Fate: Gamer Night - SE
by IchaIchasennin
Summary: After Kiritsugu's death, the Mystic Eyes of Game Perception awoke within Shirou. With it he'll take the world, and several older ladies, by storm
1. 0001

**COPYRIGHTS: I don't own Fate/Stay Night or any of its characters. They belong to Type Moon and Kinoko Nasu.**

 **WARNING! THIS STORY WILL CONTAIN GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF VIOLENT AND/OR SEXUAL tenTHEMES (but not in this chapter). See footnotes before wasting time on a story you wouldn't want to read.**

 **This is a tale intended for an adult audience who can enjoy in written words what can't and SHOULD NOT be enjoyed in real life.**

 **All characters described therein are legally adults, or they would be if they were real, whether they admit it or not.**

* * *

That night, the moon shone brightly above the city of Fuyuki. On the veranda of the Emiya's house, two figures sat basking in the light.

"Leave it to me, old man. I'll become a hero in your place," the younger promised.

"I'm relieved. I'll leave everything to you then."

Those were the last words that father and son exchanged. With a deep sigh, Emiya Kiritsugu passed away peacefully. A sharp contrast to a lifetime of conflicts.

With tears streaming down his face, Emiya Shirou watched his father exhale his final breath. There were many things Kiritsugu had omitted to tell his son. He never told him of his bloodied past, he never told him of his countless sins and he never told him of his role in the disaster that had orphaned him.

But he did tell him about his dream.

"Don't worry dad. I'll become a hero that can save everyone."

The last piece of a broken incomplete finally fell in place, and for the first time since the infernal fire that had took away everything down to his memories, Emiya Shirou could finally see his purpose.

Emiya Kiritsugu might have died, but his dream lived on. The repercussions would be greater than anyone could have imagined.

* * *

 **[You have slept in a bed. HP, MP and ST are fully restored]**

Shirou blinked and stared at the semi-transparent floating square hovering in front of his face. For a moment he was so completely stunned by this strange event that his first thought was not of Kiritsugu, whose funeral had been held just the previous day.

He shook his head and bit back the swelling tears. What good would crying do?

He returned his gaze to the message box, eyeing it suspiciously, looking around for the source of this strange apparition, but was greeted only by the sight of his otherwise unremarkable room.

Being a Magus himself, Shirou knew that there were plenty of strange, supernatural things in the world, however the great majority of them were of the deadly sort and unlikely to happen spontaneously.

Warily, he rolled out of his futon but no matter, the box was always in front of his eyes. Even when he was facing the floor mid-roll it hovered precisely in the same relative position and distance to his face, even when said distance was further away than the floor itself.

Hell, he could even see it with his eyes closed.

This thing, he realized, wasn't in truly front of him, just into his vision. After an excruciatingly long minute of staring at it without nothing happening, Shirou took the chance of reaching out to touch where this thing appeared to be.

With a dull noise it collapsed onto itself and disappeared.

"What the hell?" he asked to the empty, waving his hand pointlessly in front of his face. "Great, I'm hallucinating."

Sighing, he stood up, giving another careful look around the room. Finding nothing out of place, he shrugged and went to wash his face, putting this event behind himself as a product of his imagination. A result of sleeping a mere couple of hours after being awake for three days straight.

Unexpectedly, he hadn't been able to sleep right after Kiritsugu's death. As his only surviving relative, he was right in the middle of the funeral arrangements, not to mention his own grief. Sleep had been the farthest thing from his mind for a while.

He was suddenly jerked out of his thoughts in front of the mirror, where he could only stare blankly at his reflection... or rather above his reflection.

 **[EMIYA SHIROU]**

 **[THE GAMER]**

 **[LV 1 - 0/1000]**

"What." he said dumbly. He immediately looked above his head where the writing was supposed to be according to the mirror but found nothing at all. Again he looked at his reflection, finding the apparition to unchanged.

He tried to wave his hand above his head and watched in the mirror as they went through the writing without resistance and without dispelling it either. He tried rubbing his eyes as well as wiping the mirror but nothing bore any result. He took a steadying breath, closed his eyes and pulled the trigger inside of his mind.

"Trace On."

Pain surged into his body as he called forth his Magecraft, casting Structural analysis on the mirror. However, there was nothing out of place with the it. It was just a normal mirror. He then circled Mana through his body to rid himself of any mind-altering spell that could have been cast on him.

"Trigger Off," he exhaled, closing the connection to his Magecraft and opening his eyes.

 **[EMIYA SHIROU]**

 **[THE GAMER]**

 **[LV 1 - 0/1000]**

"Ok. I have lost it," he decided. "I'm crazy, that's how it is."

Seeing no way out of it, he shook his head, he slid out of his clothes and into the bath to wash himself.

Fifteen minutes later he had dried himself, dressed up and walked out of the bathroom pointedly ignoring the mirror.

He set up to prepare breakfast. With practiced ease, he juggled knives and forks, pots and pans. His skills behind the counter were impressive for a someone his age,, but they were a necessary survival skill in that house, as Kiritsugu couldn't have cooked to save his life.

 **[Your COOKING skill has reached LV 15]**

"Wha!" Shirou exclaimed, almost falling from the stool he was standing on to reach the stove. Again he was confronted with a strange apparition. "What the hell is this thing?"

 **[NEW QUEST: A Gamer's Experience]**

 **[OBJECTIVE: Understand the MYSTIC EYES OF GAME PERCEPTION]**

 **[Reward for Success: 300 XP]**

 **[Reward for Failure: Repeat QUEST]**

 **[Accept?]**

 **[Y/N]**

Shirou stared and stared, until he resigned himself to the fact that this thing wasn't going away on its own, no matter how long he ignored it. Taking a deep breath, he reached for the Y button, hesitating for one last time. What if this thing, whatever it was, worked like a Geass? What if it latched on him permanently once he pressed that button?

He pushed the [N] button instead.

 **[NEW QUEST: A Gamer's Experience]**

 **[OBJECTIVE: Understand the MYSTIC EYES OF GAME PERCEPTION]**

 **[Reward for Success: 300 XP]**

 **[Reward for Failure: Repeat QUEST]**

 **[QUEST IS MANDATORY!]**

 **[OK]**

This time, there was only one button for him to press. Sighing, he resigned himself to figure out whether he was crazy or not at terms that weren't his own.

 **[CONGRATULATIONS]**

 **[For a strange quirk of FATE, genetic lottery, Word of God or countless other possible reasons you have awoken the ability MYSTIC EYES of GAME PERCEPTION. From here onward, you will experience your life and the world around you like a game.]**

"..." There was nothing he could say to that so he kept on reading.

 **[For more information and options access the Main Menu. The Main Menu can be reached by calling it out.]**

"Uh... Main Menu?" Shirou said tentatively

 **[STATUS]**

 **[INVENTORY]**

 **[EQUIPMENT]**

 **[SKILL LIST]**

 **[QUESTS]**

 **[REPUTATION]**

Shirou viciously pinched his cheek, feeling no pain whatsoever. Right, that explained everything. He was still asleep and dreaming. Feeling much more relaxed, he decided to play along and hit the [STATUS] button. A window opened with his image, identical down to his clothing, and a series of values besides and under it.

 **[EMIYA SHIROU]**

 **[THE GAMER]**

 **[LV. 1 - 0/1000]**

 **[HP: 100][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 200][SP: 0]**

"Ok, so these are my stats, uh? This really look like a videogame. Gotta be the most detailed dream ever," he chuckled. It did not feel like a dream at all. "Let's see some more details."

 **[HP] Health Points. How much life you've left in you. You die if it reaches 0.**

 **[MP] Mana Points. How much Mana you have at your disposal. If Magic is performed with 0 MP, HP are used instead. If both MP and HP are 0 MC are used instead.**

 **[MC] Magic Circuits. The numbers of Circuits you have. This value also represent how much Mana you can use in a single action. Spells that require more MP that this value cannot be performed even with sufficient MP.**

 **[ST] Stamina Point. Your physical energy. This value represent how much you can go without resting. All actions require at least 1 ST to be performed, be they physical or mental. It reaches 0 you either fall asleep or use your HP instead. ST drops naturally by 1 every waking hour. The base value is 10x [AGE]+ 10x [STR].**

 **[SP] Stat Points. You can use this points to improve other stats as you prefer. They are rewarded upon Level Up and occasionally by Quests.**

The more he looked at it, the less it felt like a product of his imagination. He wasn't a stranger to vivid dreams, but this was far too removed from his experience. As a kid, he played video games in his spare time, but he was never so taken by them that he would dream of them. He either dreamt of the fire or, strangely enough, about swords.

 **[STR: 10][DEX: 11][INT: 10][WIS: 25][CHR: 22]**

 **[STR] STRENGTH. Your physical prowess. This value represents how strong you are as well as your attack power. Starting value is 1x [AGE]**

 **[DEX] DEXTERITY. This value represents your agility and speed. Starting value is 1x [AGE]**

 **[INT] INTELLIGENCE. This value represents your knowledge and logic ability. Starting value is 1x [AGE]**

 **[WIS] WISDOM. This value represents your awareness, both of yourself and the world around you. Starting value is 1x [AGE]**

 **[CHR] Charisma. This value represents your willpower and your presence. Starting value is 1x [AGE]**

There were small arrow-like button to the left and right of this stats. He assumed they were used to apply [PT] if there were any available. He didn't have any, so he rolled back to the Main Menu and entered the Skills subsection. He was nearly drowned in data.

 **Skills and abilities**

 **[MYSTIC EYES OF GAME PERCEPTION] Allows to experience life as a game.**

"So this should be why I'm seeing this stuff?" Mystic eyes were a rare thing, usually a result of centuries of selective breeding or some kind of trauma. He didn't know about the first, but sure enough he was applicable to the second.

 **[MEoGP/GAMER BODY]: Experiencing the world as a Game has changed you deeply. You now have the body of a game character. Sleeping in a bed restores 100% HP, MP and ST. Sleeping on the ground restores 80% and sleeping in the cold restores 25%.**

A sense of dread crept upon him. Although having the body of a game character looked good at a first glance, he wasn't sure how truly he had been changed. What if there was something else out of place he didn't notice?

 **[MAGECRAFT/STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS - LV 75: 80%]: The ability to understand the structure of inanimate objects in exchange of Mana. You are extremely good at this and you can Grasp most things easily. 2MP/object**

That sounded about right. So far, Structural Analysis was the only Mystery he could perform well consistently.

 **[MAGECRAFT/PROJECTION - LV 3: 70%]: Allows to materialize objects from Mana. You are not good at this yet. 10MP/object**

 **[MAGECRAFT/REINFORCEMENT - LV 2: 62%]: Allows to strengthen an aspect of an object a little. You are not good at this yet. 15MP/aspect**

Again, it was more or less correct as far as he could tell. Neither Projection nor Reinforcement came easily to him. Sometimes he managed to perform them, but most times he failed.

 **[MAGECRAFT/NERVE CIRCUIT - LV 55: 75%] The ability to create a makeshift Circuit out of your nerves. At this level you can create a temporary Circuit out of combat with a 100% chance of success in exchange of 1 HP and 10 ST, a 55% chance of making a Circuit during combat in exchange of 5 HP and 10 ST. In addition, failure to perform costs a permanent -1 INT.**

"Wait, what?" Nerve Circuits? Why Nerve Circuits? They were only just Circuits.

 **[CRAFTING/COOKING - LV 15] The ability to prepare meals. Your ability is higher than the average adult. +2% reputation gain during meals. At this level a meal restores 15 [ST].**

"Yes, well. Thank you for that, dad."

 **[CRAFTING/ELECTRONICS - LV 5] The ability to fiddle with electronic devices. Your ability is impressive for someone of your age. At this level you can understand how to fix simple things. Your ability to do so yourself depend on the required [DEX] and/or [STR].**

 **[CRAFTING/MECHANICS - LV 5] The ability to fiddle with mechanical devices. Your ability is pretty impressive for someone of your age. At this level you can understand how to fix simple things. Your ability to do so yourself depend on the required [DEX] and/or [STR].**

 **[ELEMENT/SWORD]: You are naturally in tune with all things bladed. + 500% gains/success to all blade-related activities.**

 **[ORIGIN/SWORD]: You are naturally in tune with all things bladed. + 500% gains/success to all blade related-activities.**

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he said reading the last two skills. "Sword and Sword? Kiritsugu said he couldn't tell what my Origin and Element are. Though that would explain why I suck at most Magecrafts.

 **[U?IM?T?D ?E W?KS - LV1: 0%]: ? ERROR: [?] not sufficient.**

"Uh? A glitch? A locked ability?"

 **[MENTAL/BROKEN]: You suffer from a deep trauma. The way you think is not the same as ordinary people. This experience grants you a +15 [WIS] but your common sense is askew because of it resulting in a permanent -40% to all further [WIS] gains.**

 **[MENTAL/HERO COMPLEX] You value other people's lives more than your own. You literally cannot kill to save your life. - 100% all [CRITICALS] to save yourself + 100% to all [CRITICALS] when protecting someone else. This unrelenting mentality grants a +10 [CHR]**

"Err..."

 **[MENTAL/PAIN THRESHOLD - LV: MAX]: You have been making Magic Circuits out of your nerves for years which is as painful as putting a burning iron rod into your spine. This insane practice has however granted you an equally insane resistance to pain. No matter how much your body is wounded you suffer no penalties. LV MAX unlocked [DIE HARD]**

 **[MENTAL/FORGOTTEN CIRCUITS] You have never used your native Circuits and as a result they have begun to atrophy. You cannot perform Magecraft with them until they have recovered.**

"What the...? I've been doing it wrong the whole time? Goddamn it, dad. You lazy bum."

 **[PHYSICAL/DIE HARD] People die when they are killed. But not you. Allows for continued action even when HP has reached 0 as long as you have either ST or MP left. ST and MP drop by 1 each minute even if no action is taken when HP is 0.**

"Never mind, dad. If this ability is an actual thing it's pretty cool."

 **Titles**

 **[MAGUS] Enable the use of Magecraft.**

"Sounds about right."

 **[SWORD INCARNATION] Because of your aligned Origin and Element you are yourself a living sword. A further +1000% gains/success to all blade related activities is granted but a -90% penalty gain/success to all non-blade related Magecrafts is applied. Weapons' and armors' structure are permanently memorized with just a glance even without Structural Analysis. Mana cost for all Magecrafts is 1MP for blade and 4MP for all shields and armors regardless of item or spell level. All activities involving blades cost only 1ST.**

"Crap. Talk about over-specialization. I'm going to have a hard time improving at anything if this is true. On the other hand, maybe I should pick up Kendo? I was thinking about trying my hand at archery but with this..."

 **[HERO IN TRAINING] You chose the path of a hero, but you still don't know what it means. You go out of your way to help people and you never turn down a request for help.**

"Well, I wouldn't say never turning anyone away but..."

 **[TWICE ORPHAN] You lost your parents, twice. Sucks to be you. Most people pity you. +10% to all [REPUTATION] gain with characters with [GOOD] alignment for every altruistic action you perform. + 50% [REPUTATION] gains with other orphans regardless of relationship and alignment.**

"I'm being pitied by my own ability? I'm not sure how I should feel about that. Hmm? Reputation?"

 **[POLITE] You are well mannered and respectful. +10% [REPUTATION] gains with all [LAWFUL] and [NEUTRAL] aligned people as well as for every person of your age and above.**

"Well, isn't that just normal?"

 **[WISE BEYOND YOUR YEARS] Because your [WIS] is over twice your [AGE] you appear more mature than your peers. +20% all REPUTATION gains.**

"I... guess? I never really got along with my classmates."

"Shirou? Are you talking to yourself?" a voice called from the living room. Shirou nearly jumped out of his skin.

"F-Fuji-nee! I... this is..." he stuttered, desperately looking for an excuse.

"What are you doing staring into space like that?"

"Into space?" he asked. Couldn't she see it? Right, he was the one with the Mystic Eyes. He was likely the only person who could see and interact with this strange ability. "Right, sorry. I spaced out for a while." He was relieved. There was no way she could explain Taiga about things like Mystic Eyes. It was a Magus's duty was to keep the supernatural secret.

Taiga, the daughter from the Yakuza family next door, was sort of a surrogate sister to Shirou, as well as a teacher at his school. Kiritsugu had named her Shirou's guardian until he came of age, therefore she would check up on him regularly. Above her head there was a writing much like above Shirou's in his reflection.

 **[FUJIMURA TAIGA]**

 **[TIGER OF FUYUKI]**

 **[LV.25]**

Shirou temporarily disregarded it in favor of looking at her appearance. Usually an upbeat, happy-go-lucky woman in her early twenties, Taiga looked like she hadn't been sleeping well in a while. It wasn't really surprising, as it was obvious even to him that she had a crush on Kiritsugu. Her red eyes were told a tale of nights spent crying.

"Are you sure you are alright?" she asked in concern.

"Yeah... just, you know, thoughts. So, I was making breakfast," he said, changing the subject. "Wanna eat with me?"

She nodded and they sat at the table together. Strangely enough, even though he had forgotten about the food he was preparing, nothing had burned or was even undercooked, which shouldn't have been possible under ordinary circumstances. A quirk of the Crafting-type? Shirou couldn't still wrap his mind around this things. He was still fairly convinced he was dreaming.

Over breakfast they talked about a lot if things, carefully avoiding to mention Kiritsugu for each other's sake, but still dancing around the subject to make sure they were coping well.

"I'm going back to school today," he said as he put the dishes away.

"Are you sure you are ready? There's no need to rush."

"Yeah," he confirmed. "There's no point in hanging around the house all by myself. Besides, he wouldn't have wanted anyone to mope around because of him."

"... Yeah, he wa that kind of guy. Well then, I'll see you at school, or do you need me to accompany you?"

"Please," he scoffed, rolling his eyes. I may be young, but I know my way around the city. I'll be fine."

"Alright then, see you later and thanks for breakfast."

"Later, Fuji-nee."

As soon as she left the room, Shirou closed all the boxes from his Mystic Eyes. He would have liked to fiddle with the ability a bit more but he had already made the decided to go back to school the previous evening. He didn't like much going back on his choices and frankly, this sudden development was a sufficient break from routine to last for a while.

 **[NEW QUEST: A student's life]**

 **[OBJECTIVE: Attend classes]**

 **[Reward for completion: 100 XP, +100 Reputation with Fujimura Taiga]**

 **[Consequences for failure: - 100 Reputation with Fujimura Taiga, bad grades]**

 **[Accept?]**

 **[Y][N]**

It kept getting weirder and weirder, but he nonetheless pressed [Y]. If this things had no intention of going away on its own, he'd see through it myself.

* * *

 **[QUEST: A student's life COMPLETE]**

 **[+100 XP, +100 Reputation with Fujimura Taiga]**

 **[Due to your focus in class, your INT went up by 1]**

This screen popped up the moment the bell rung. Shirou waved it away discreetly and made his way out of school. Having skipped a couple of days due to Kiritsugu's death, Shirou hadn't spared any thought to his weird morning until the lessons were over and the ability made itself known once more. It was a bit disconcerting to see everyone with names and levels floating over their heads, but by the time he arrived at school he had gotten accustomed to it.

He had already accepted that he wasn't dreaming at this point, mostly because it was too vivid and long-lasting to be a product of his sleeping brain. Furthermore, he knew Mystic Eyes were an actual thing due to Kiritsugu's teaching in Magecraft.

However, he hadn't hear of such things as Mystic Eyes of Game Perception before. Granted, people didn't exactly advertise this sort of abilities because they would either be thought crazy or the Clock Tower would swoop in and throw them in a cell for experimentation. Possibly both.

So Shirou decided that he would test out this ability on his own. Not that he had anyone he could speak about it even if he wanted. Magi were supposed to keep the existence of the supernatural among themselves and the only other Magus Shirou knew of was the recently departed Kiritsugu. He was alone in this.

Thinking about it with a cool head, there was no reason to think that it was a plot to harm him. Magus or not, he was still a child and quite easy to hurt directly if anyone wished. so it was too convoluted for that purpose. Secondly he hadn't done anything to warrant any animosity yet.

All clues pointed toward it being the natural ability it said it was. It could very well be a results of genetics too, but since he had no recollection of his biological parents it could not be confirmed.

So the end result was that he decided to just roll with it. If it was half as awesome as he thought it'd be, becoming a hero would be a breeze.

That is, if he knew what being a hero meant at all. Well, when in need of knowledge, one should go where knowledge is stored. The library.

* * *

 **[You have entered a special area]**

 **[SCHOOL LIBRARY]**

 **[While in this area, your INT gains are doubled.]**

 **[Warning: excessive use of special areas could cause negative statuses]**

 _'Neat,'_ he thought. _'So if I study here I get double the stats. I wonder what other places I could go for boosts.'_

As he thought so, he pulled out the dictionary from the shelf and quickly flipped to the page he was looking for.

 _ **hero**_

 _1\. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities._

 _2\. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal_

 _3\. the principal male character in a story, play, film, etc._

 _4\. Classical Mythology:_

 _\- a being of godlike prowess and beneficence who often came to be honored as a divinity._

 _\- (in the Homeric period) a warrior-chieftain of special strength, courage, or ability._

 _\- (in later antiquity) an immortal being; demigod._

So, basically, a hero was some kind of person who's looked up to. A person whose skills and deeds leave people in awe.

Well, that was easier said than done. Shirou didn't want to be a just any hero. He wanted to become a hero of justice. That meant he had to help people in need.

Well, surely there was somebody around who could use his help, wasn't it? He'd have to look for himself, he guess.

He left the library and went home to fiddle with his Gamer skill a little more.

* * *

 **[QUEST: A Gamer's Experience COMPLETE]**

 **[Reward for Success: 300 XP]**

The screen came up after he took a peek into the remaining sub-menus of his Gamer ability. [Equipment], as the name suggested, explained the buffs granted by his worn item. [Quests] listed all on-going quests and explained that people that gave them out would have an exclamation mark over their names.

The [Reputation] screen was interesting enough. It put into numbers the kind of relationships he had with "relevant characters". That is to say anyone whose influence in his life was more than passing. Taiga was there with a whooping + 5000 points ranking their relationship as "Siblings" with a further 5000 to go to reach the next level. That left him perplexed. What could there be above Siblings? Considering that they weren't tied by blood it was pretty much the best kind of relationship they could hope for, wasn't it?

Well, she had fifteen years on him so she could technically be his mother, but no matter what level they relationship got to, Taiga was less mature than Shirou, so it was unlikely that their bond would evolve in that of mother/son. Oh, well. Maybe it would just cap at 10000 without further increases.

Anyway, the only thing he could do was wait and see. Besides, his concerns were elsewhere. Shirou wasn't a genius by any stretch of the imagination, but the Gamer system was simply enough to understand to anyone who had even only a passing knowledge of video games.

If his experience from that morning held true across the board, his stats would increase by performing actions related to them. If his INT went up by studying and going to school, then it stood to reason that the other Stats would act accordingly. Physical training would increase his STR and activities focused on agility would boost his DEX.

That left the matter of his WIS and CHR. Wisdom, as far as he understood, was the awareness that came from experiencing life while Charisma was the way he impacted on people. A higher value would make him more convincing as well as appear more reliable. If he was right, he needed STR, DEX and INT to see complete Quests, but it was likely that some Quest would not be available until he had sufficient CHR to convince people he could help them. At his age, the people that would entrust him with anything was very few.

Seeing how he hadn't the slightest clue as how to raise his CHR other than assigning points to it he decided that he would grind his other Stats the regular way while keeping the points from leveling up for CHR and WIS.

 **[+1 WIS for thinking things through]**

"Yes," he pumped his fist.

There was another thing he quickly realized. This ability was broken in a good way. The beginning Stats were the same as his Age except for those influenced by experiences most people didn't have, such as surviving the fire from five years before.

One point meant an year of development in each stat. Granted, perhaps the progression wasn't exactly linear but in the beginning stages each point equaled to one year of personal growth. With 11 point of INT to his 10 years of age hes was supposedly one year ahead of his peers in mental development.

Well, he couldn't prove it just yet. He still had to study the things he needed to know in order to test if this theory was right. However, he could still try his hand at everything else.

Changing into a pair of shorts and running shoes he went out for a jog.

* * *

 **[+1 DEX from running constantly]**

 **[+1 DEX from running constantly]**

 **[+1 DEX from running constantly]**

Shirou couldn't contain his giddiness. He had run for nearly three hours and his DEX had gone up three times. More importantly he was never once short of breath. He was healthy as anyone his age, but before that day he would eventually have to stop and catch his breath. Now he wasn't tired in the least and could have kept on running for a long while. With a glance to his stats he saw that his Stamina had gone down of about 30 points. At that rate, it meant he could have kept going for fifteen hours with energy to spare.

It was beyond insane.

He would have gone for another run, but Taiga was going to come over for dinner soon and he didn't want to disappoint her. After a quick shower he was back at the stove and the smell of food was soon drifting through the house.

* * *

That night, after Taiga had left, Shirou sat into the tool shed that doubled as his workshop

 **[You have entered a special area]**

 **[WORKSHOP]**

 **[While in this area, all your spells cost half.]**

 **[Warning: excessive use of special areas could cause negative statuses]**

Sitting cross-legged on the concrete floor, Shirou pondered over what the ability had said about his Magic Circuits, namely that he hadn't been using them at all while instead making a new circuit out of his nerves instead. While he got a nifty ability out of it, it had stunted his growth as a Magus and to make matter worse he had no idea how to begin repairing the damage.

Knowing that he was doing things wrong didn't tell him how to do them right. Sitting there he tried to focus on himself and get a feel for his natural circuits in the same manner Kiritsugu had done when Shirou had finally convinced him to teach him.

Was Kiritsugu just not good at teaching or had Shirou himself misunderstood something?

He spent the whole night trying, but when the sun rose he hadn't made a single step torward a solution.

Fortunately with Gamer ability he had no need to sleep or rest as long as he had Stamina to spare, so he could get ready for the day without feeling tired at all.

 **[NEW QUEST: A student's life]**

 **[OBJECTIVE: Attend classes]**

 **[Reward for completion: 100 XP, +100 Reputation with Fujimura Taiga]**

 **[Consequences for failure: - 100 Reputation with Fujimura Taiga, bad grades]**

 **[Accept?]**

 **[Y][N]**

Well, well, well. Repeatable quests were a thing after all.

* * *

 **[QUEST: A student's life COMPLETE]**

 **[+100 XP, +100 Reputation with Fujimura Taiga]**

 _'This time there was no INT bonus,'_ Shirou observed on his way out of school. As disappointing as it was, it wasn't very surprising. Like in most things, progression is easier at the early stages. The next increase in INT would like come again very soon, but the intervals between increment would only increase at each step. Oh well, he still received power ups by going to school, so he wasn't about to complain.

At home, he once again donned his running clothes and went out for a jog.

 **[+1 DEX from running constantly]**

 **[+1 DEX from running constantly]**

 **[+1 DEX from running constantly]**

 **[+1 DEX from running constantly]**

 **[+1 DEX from running constantly]**

This time he kept it up for six hours straight but got only five point in DEX. The curve was starting to get steeper. His stamina was also starting to get dangerously low. He hadn't slept at all the previous night and consumed a great deal of energy by exercising. He got a bit of stamina back when he ate but he would have to get some sleep soon. He didn't know what would be the consequences for reaching 0 stamina and he rather wouldn't find out if he could help it. That evening Taiga didn't come for dinner and after a shower Shirou spent only a hour in his Workshop trying to figure how to use his Circuits.

* * *

A whole week went by during which Shirou tried his hand at developing his Gamer skills, bringing both his DEX and STR to a whooping 25. His INT halted at 15 but he didn't wasted no effort grind it outside of school at all considering he had to go to school it was redundant to invest more time into it. The daily repetitions of the quest "a student's life" made him level up once, granting him an extra Stat point to assign as he wished. He kept it there for the time being, intending to spend it the moment he hit a wall in his growth.

As for the applied effects of his Stats, with his level of strength he could easily lift three times his weight and jump as far as three meters high, while his DEX made him capable of doing flips in mid air worthy of an Olympic champion. In all likelihood it was also due to how small and light he was compared to an adult with comparable Stats but it still rocked. 15 point of INT were more than enough to breeze through all of his homework in a matter of minutes, which left him with plenty of time to do just about everything else.

Now convinced that his Gamer skill was the genuine article, Shirou decided to search the neighborhood for possible Quests over the weekend.

* * *

 **This story will contain:**

 **HETEROSEXUALITY (M/F), HOMOSEXUALITY (F/F), SEXUAL PROMISCUITY, RAPE, MIND CONTROL, MORAL CORRUPTION, CHEATING (NETORARE), PROSTITUTION, SADISM, MASOCHISM and OTHER STUFF.**

 **All characters are 18 or above, for obvious reasons.**

 **If you are not fine with all of the above and others that are not yet mentioned please read no further. The author doesn't condone acts of actual rape UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE (unless it's willing roleplay, but then it's not actually rape).**


	2. 0002

Quests, Shirou decided, were the greatest thing EVER!

Even before taking upon himself the task of fulfilling Kiritsugu's dream, Shirou had felt the need to make himself helpful, as a result of the survivor's guilt that developed from the incident five years before. However, people in need of help didn't exactly go around with a sign over their head.

Except, now they did!

In the shopping district, a lot of people walked about with huge exclamations marks hovering above their heads. Most of them were just in need of directions, which manifested to Shirou's Gamer Eyes under the Quest [Point Me], which was simultaneously acquired and completed in the span of the conversation with the Quest Giver. Each rewarded him with 10XP.

Shirou had reached Level 3 in less than a hour, just from repeating those quests. Then he helped an old woman carry her grocery back home with the [Granny in Need] Quest, which gave him 200XP and an additional 1 STR from carrying the bags. Later, he rescued a kid's cat from the tree in which the cat had gotten itself trapped, thus completing the quest [Trapped Kitty] for 200XP and 1 DEX.

Having exhausted all the available Quests in the area for the day, which activated and completed the Quest [Helpful Fellow: Shopping District] for an extra 500XP and 1 CHR,

he got home that evening, already almost halfway to level 4.

It was beyond great. He could spot people who needed help at a distance, solve their problems and become stronger in the process. Perhaps there hadn't been much in the way of heroics involved yet, but he was off to a good start, he decided. Now he had all of the evening to practice his magecraft to his heart content.

[br]

 **[EMIYA SHIROU]  
** **[THE GAMER]  
** **[LV 15 - 1270/15000]  
** **[HP: 1500][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 310][PT: 15]  
** **[STR: 30][DEX: 30][INT: 20][WIS: 30][CHR: 44]**

Days passed. Shirou kept doing Quests in his spare time during the day, as well as trying to fix the issue with his magic circuit in the evening. In one month he had reached Level 15, but now he needed nearly 15,000XP to reach the next level. The reward for the Daily Quests at the shopping district wouldn't help him advance in anything approaching a timely manner.

He was more or less stalled. There were no more Quests available, except for going to school each morning and the repeatable Quests from the shopping district. With the amount of XP he got from those, it could feasibly take him a month to level up again. Similarly, physical training had also reached a plateau. Granted, with now 40 points in both STR and DEX, he wasn't about to run into something that required more power than he already had, so he was content with that much, although he still did his workout routine every morning. His INT had reached 20 by simply attending school every day. His CHR was his most developed stat with 45 points, most of which came from completing the [Helpful Fellow: Shopping District] Quest almost every day.

As game logic would suggest, he needed greater challenges if he wanted greater rewards. The problem was where to find them. He tried to expand his search to other areas of the city, but it was a futile endeavor, for he had only found few Quests available and none more rewarding than those in his neighborhood.

Well, he wasn't in any specific hurry, to be honest. Although he wanted to help as many people as he could, ultimately that desire stretched only to the people he could see. He wouldn't just rush to god-knew-where looking for people in desperate need; otherwise, he'd just embark on the first ship to some war-torn country and do something about it there.

He knew that if he kept helping people, more people in need of help would appear in front of him eventually. He just had to be patient and hone his skills.

[br]

Fujimura Taiga was troubled.

"Fuji-nee, would you teach me kendo please?" he asked one evening over dinner. Frankly she didn't know what to think about her recently acquired charge. Although a quiet kid from the beginning, Shirou was also a restless ball of energy. She couldn't recall him lazing about even once, certainly not after Kiritsugu's death.

He had always been far more mature than his peers, but lately he was just... _different_. She couldn't quite pinpoint what had changed about him but recently he appeared...more reliable, perhaps? She had heard rumors about him giving aid to anyone whom he came across, and the mothers in the neighborhood had begun to hold him up as an example to follow for their own children.

She would have felt proud about it if she had played any part in it, but in truth she hadn't done much except check up on him in the morning, evenings, and, of course, at school, since she was his homeroom teacher.

"I'm sorry, Shirou. I really can't spare the time. Besides, you're only a beginner. You should join a dojo and start with the basics before looking for a private teacher."

"Well, fine," he shrugged. "I'll look into it tomorrow."

They didn't speak about the subject any further and went on about their evening normally.

[br]

"Good morning, Shirou."

"Good morning, Emiya."

"Sup, Emiya!"

Lately his schoolmates had started to go out of their way to greet him in the morning-even the upperclassmen. For a while, Shirou had been baffled by this, but quickly realized that it was probably due to his high CHR, which was in all likelihood completely disproportionate for a kid of his age.

Well, he didn't care about the attention he received so he just greeted everyone back and went to his class normally. The lessons went on without problems and at the end of the day, Shirou went to join a kendo course for kids.

[br]

 **[As result of a special action you have learned Basic Swordplay - Japanese Style]  
** **[Basic Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached Lv. 2]  
** **[Basic Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached Lv. 3]  
** **[Basic Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached Lv. 4]  
** **[Basic Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached Lv. 5]  
** **[Basic Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached Lv. 6]  
** **[Basic Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached Lv. 7]  
** **[Basic Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached Lv. 8]  
** **[Basic Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached Lv. 9]  
** **[Basic Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached Lv. 10]  
** **[...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...]  
** **[Basic Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached Lv. 100]  
** **[Basic Swordplay - Japanese Style Lv. 100 has changed in Intermediate Swordplay - Japanese Style]  
** **[Intermediate Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached Lv. 2]  
** **[Intermediate Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached Lv. 3]  
** **[Intermediate Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached Lv. 4]  
** **[Intermediate Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached Lv. 5]  
** **[Intermediate Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached Lv. 6]  
** **[Intermediate Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached Lv. 7]  
** **[Intermediate Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached Lv. 8]  
** **[Intermediate Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached Lv. 9]  
** **[Intermediate Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached Lv. 10]  
** **[...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...]  
** **[Intermediate Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached Lv. 100]  
** **[Intermediate Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached Lv. 100 has changed in Master Swordplay - Japanese Style]  
** **[Master Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached lv. 2]**

"This is ridiculous," Shirou murmured to himself. The notifications flashed before his eyes faster than he could read them and all he did was sitting on the sidelines observing the teachers teaching how to hold a sword to several kids a couple of years older than him.

"Alright, Emiya-kun," the instructor called him. "Do you feel like trying your hand at it now?"

"Yes. Thank you, sensei," he replied politely.

"Hyuudo-kun, please be his partner for a while," the instructor said to another redheaded boy.

"Yes, sensei," the kid jumped to his feet and put on his helmet. "Alright, Emiya-kun. Since you're new I'll go easy on you."

-Twenty seconds later-

"Hyuudo-kun, are you alright?" the instructor asked to the boy laying unconscious on his back. "Emiya-kun, I thought you said you were only a beginner."

"But I am..." he said, looking at his hands in wonder. He felt bad for Hyuudo-kun. Their ability with the sword notwithstanding, there was an abyss in their stats that the older boy had no hope of overcoming. Shirou actually held back as much as he could, but with his Swordplay having already reached mastery, it would be impossible for Hyuudo-kun to score a single hit against him.

 _'This ability is so broken,'_ he thought to himself. No other skills had made such a huge leap in the past month or so. That was the effect of a +2000% bonus in sword-related skills from the combination of his Element and Origin being Sword. It was so improbable that it went straight past insane and right into the bullshit department.

Not that he was about to complain, but still...

"Could he possibly be a natural?" one teacher murmured to another.

"Well, he could be, I guess. Let's try him. Emiya-kun?"

"Yes, sensei?"

"We'd like to gauge your innate ability with the sword. Do you feel like facing the older students?

 **[NEW QUEST: A** **G** **enius** **A** **bove** **G** **eniuses]  
** **[OBJECTIVE: Defeat all the students at your dojo on the very first day]  
** **[Reward: 100XP, +5 CHR, ?]  
** **[Accept?]  
** **[Y][N]**

Well, the experience was complete crap at his level, but he wouldn't pass up an extra 5 CHR points. Plus, there was that mysterious reward that he probably wouldn't uncover unless he completed the quest.

"If you think that's for the best, sensei," he replied humbly, and the Gamer ability took his answer as an affirmative response to the Quest prompt.

Well then, time to lay waste to some senpai.

\- One hour later -

"Unbelievable," one of the teachers muttered.

"No one managed to land a single hit," the other agreed. "This is an unprecedented genius."

"I think... I think we should call that person."

The other man hissed, "Are you crazy? She'll break him."

"Maybe, or maybe we'll be witnesses to the rise of the greatest swordsman in history."

"It's your call, my friend. I just hope you won't regret it."

"Emiya-kun, that was a splendid performance. Considering your talent, would you like to have a personal teacher? There is someone to whom I could recommend you."

Shirou bowed at the teacher. "Thank you, sensei. I would appreciate it."

"Well, then you should head to this place tomorrow," he said, giving him a card. "She'll help you grow as a swordsman."

Shirou took the card and read it. "Busujima Saeko?"

 **[QUEST: A** **Ge** **nius** **A** **bove** **G** **eniuses COMPLETE]  
** **[OBJECTIVE: Defeat all the students at your dojo on the very first day]  
** **[Reward: 100XP, +5 CHR, Character UNLOCKED: Busujima Saeko]  
** **[Title: Sword Prodigy UNLOCKED] +50% Reputation gain with all sword users.  
** **Title: Reliable] Because of your High CHR people find you reliable despite your young age. +50% Reputation gain with everyone. Unlocks Tier 2 Quests.**

 _'Alright,'_ Shirou cheered inwardly. _'More Quests and a personal teacher?_ _!_ _Way to go!'_

The next afternoon he would go to meet his teacher and, if he had some time to spare, he would then try looking around for these Tier 2 Quests.

[br]

"Shirou?" Taiga asked, stepping into his home that evening.

"What's wrong, Fuji-nee?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow. "You didn't expect to see me?"

"Ah, no," she shook her head. "For a moment you looked like a completely different person. So, how did the dojo work out for you?"

"Well..."

"That bad?" she grinned.

"Actually, they told me it would be better if I got a personal teacher. They gave me this card."

Taiga's eyebrows went from arching at the mention of a personal teacher to outright disappearing into her hairline at the name she read on the card.

"Busujima? _The_ Busujima? Shirou, this is the three-times winner of the National Kendo Tournament. Why would they send you to this person?"

"Um...because I'm too good for a regular dojo?"

"I...what? Shirou you have never even picked up a sword before yesterday."

"I guess I'm a natural?" He shrugged, trying to downplay his talent.

"No. Even if you were a genius of some sort, you'd still have to at least learn the basics before they sent you to someone of this caliber to learn."

"I don't know what to say. They put me up against all of the other students and I beat them all," he explained, scratching his head.

"Alright... no. I'm sorry, Shirou but I'm not buying it. What's really going on here?"

"I told you already. That's how things went."

"Oh, really? Well, I'll be the judge of that. Come on, let's get to the dojo. Let's see those skills at work."

 **[NEW QUEST: Eyes of the Tiger]  
** **[Objective: Defeat Fujimura Taiga in a spar]  
** **[Reward: + 100XP, + 3000 Reputation with Fujimura Taiga]  
** **[Consequences for failure: - 1500 Reputation with Fujimura Taiga; Character: Busujima Saeko becomes LOCKED again]  
** **[Quest is mandatory!]  
** **[OK]**

 _'Crap, I can't go easy on her,'_ he swore inwardly. "If that's what it takes for you to believe me."

They went to the dojo with Taiga stomping all the way there. She was pissed with him because she thought he was lying? Well, although it was the truth, Shirou supposed, it was also unbelievable enough to someone who didn't know about the actual circumstances of the event for _them_ to doubt him, let alone the uninitiated.

So he could only acquiesce to her challenge and beat her, lest he lose both her respect and that of his would-be teacher.

"Alright, here's your sword," she said, tossing him a shinai, which he deftly caught mid-air.

"What are the rules?" he asked. "Three points?"

"Good enough." She nodded grimly and took a stance. "Let's begin."

Shirou moved. Unlike with the students at the dojo, Fuji-nee was an expert kendoka. If he held back, she'd take advantage of any opening. Their swords met with a loud _TWACK!_ and Taiga's eyes widened as she rocked in place from the sheer power of Shirou's swing.

 **[Master Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached lv. 3]  
** **[Master Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached lv. 4]**

Shirou capitalized on her surprise and spun around to her side with another strike already in motion. Taiga saw it coming at the last moment, and thus could not block it completely. The shinai struck her side with surprising force, sending her sprawling on the ground.

 **[Master Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached lv. 5]  
** **[Master Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached lv. 6]**

Taiga looked up at him with an expression of surprise and wonder. She could see, now, that his words weren't simply bold-faced lies.

"Well?" he asked. "Have you got your proof, or should we keep going?"

"Why, you little...!" she growled, picking herself and her sword up from the floor and engaging Shirou once more.

 **[Master Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached lv. 7]  
** **[Master Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached lv. 8]**

This time the exchange was more balanced, but Shirou's raw stats were already higher than Taiga's. It was more than enough for him to overtake the already tightening gap in their skill.

 **[Master Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached lv. 9]  
** **[Master Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached lv. 10]  
** **[Master Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached lv. 11]  
** **[Master Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached lv. 12]**

Ultimately, he struck her two more times without letting her get a single point in. Taiga was breathing heavily, and she was sweating profusely, while Shirou was far from being tired due to his [Gamer Body].

"I...can't believe...I lost to...a ten-year-old kid. How did you do that?"

Shirou shrugged. "Talent? I'm not trying to deceive you, Fuji-nee. Trust me, I was as surprised as you are."

Taiga gave him a long, contemplative look, and then sighed.

"Geez. I'm supposed to be your guardian, but here you are, taking care of yourself every day and then handing me my ass in the one thing I've always been the best at. It looks like I won't be able to treat you as a kid any longer. "

 **[You** **r** **relationship with Fujimura Taiga has maxed out as "Sibling"]  
** **[For your relationship to improve further or degrade, special conditions have to be met]**

"I wish I could say the same of you, Fuji-nee," he sighed in return, glancing at the message with the corner of his eye, unable to resist the opportunity to rub one in.

Taiga blinked once and then pounced. Shirou saw it coming and quickly ran out of the dojo with his surrogate sister hot on his tail.

"Hold it right there!" she shouted. "I'll make you take it back! I'll definitely make you eat your words!"

"You aren't really helping your case if you keep acting like a tiger."

"DON'T CALL ME A TIGER!" the tiger roared.

She kept chasing him around the yard for another hour, after which she returned home, muttering about being defeated on all fronts.

The next afternoon, Shirou would finally go and meet his personal kendo instructor. With that in mind, he went to sleep, looking forward to the next day.

* * *

Last Updated: 07/15/2016  
Beta: Warellis, Akemi Homura-san


	3. 0003

**[EMIYA SHIROU]  
** **[THE GAMER]  
** **[LV 15 - 1570/15000]  
** **[HP: 1500][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 600][PT: 15]  
** **[STR: 30][DEX: 30][INT: 20][WIS: 30][CHR: 44]**

* * *

That afternoon, Shirou ventured outside the boundaries of Fuyuki City by himself for the first time. The Busujima School of Kendo was located in the midst of the woods. Shirou had to switch buses twice just to reach the place where the main road met the unpaved trail that supposedly led to the dojo.

Even calling it a trail was too much of a stretch. It was just a small patch of dirt where the grass didn't grow that disappeared behind the trees not five meters away from the main road. Honestly, if he hadn't been told it was there, he didn't think he would've been able to find it.

Oh, well. It wasn't such a big deal anyway. Martial artists of a high caliber had a tendency of keeping out of the way, where they wouldn't be disturbed by the distraction of the modern era.

Shirou fearlessly stepped onto the trail and into the woods. Two minutes into the walk, and it was almost like night had already fallen. The trees were so thick and the foliage so dense that only the barest amount of sunlight managed to pass through. The temperature also dropped several degrees and chills begun to run up his spine.

Something was very wrong in this place. Shirou didn't know what it was but he was certain that something was amiss.

 **[As result of a special action you have learned: Sense** **the Unnatural** **]**

 **[SENSE** **THE UNNATURAL** **\- LV. 1: 1%] : Sometimes, things around you aren't as they should be and you can tell right away. Detects supernatural influences in a ten meter radius.**

Shirou's eyes widened, not so much because he had acquired a new skill, but because there was something supernatural within ten meters from him.

He reached for the bokuto he had strapped onto his backpack and pulled it out in one swift motion, naturally adopting the stance of the [Master Swordplay - Japanese Style]. He stood there for a long minute, waiting for something to happen.

 **[Sense** **the Unnatural** **has reached Lv. 2 - Max Distance increased to 20 meters]**

The prompt appeared after about ten minutes of him standing there focusing on his surroundings.

He was being stupid, he told himself. This was Fuyuki City, after all. A place where leylines met and spirits gathered on their own. Furthermore, it was far away from the majority of the presences of the surrounding humans, and in all likelihood, the leyline was much closer to the surface in this area anyway.

It wasn't just because of the isolated position that martial artists retreated to the mountains to hone their skills. He decided to keep going, but kept his wooden sword at the ready just the same.

 **[Sense** **the Unnatural** **has reached Lv. 3 - Max Distance increased to 30 meters]**

The feeling of _wrongness_ had not changed in the least even as his sense expanded, further confirming that it was the place itself that radiated supernatural vibes. He was starting to relax when -

 _'Crack.'_

Something snapped in the woods somewhere to Shirou's left, and he froze in place. He breathed once, twice, and thrice, but there was only absolute silence.

 _That was not good._ A forest is never completely silent. There were usually all manner of animals and insects around the place, each of them with their own distinctive noises. The only time when they would go completely still was when something scared them into motionlessness.

Once more, Shirou stood just as still as the forest's fauna, focusing his senses in the direction of the noise.

 **[As result of a special action you have learned Sense Presence]**

 **[SENSE PRESENCE Lv.1 - 1%] Even when you can't see anyone you are not alone and you know it. Allows the detection of people and animals in a 10 meter radius.**

 **[PRESENCE DETECTED. Distance: 0** **.** **2 meters. Direction: 6 o'clock.]**

Without thinking and without turning, Shirou inverted the grip on his bokuto and thrust it backwards, brushing against his right side.

 _'Twack'_

His blow was deflected to the side, unbalancing him. Instead of trying to regain his footing, he took advantage of the momentum and rolled on the ground, turning in the direction of his assailant, weapon at the ready.

"My, my," she said with a tinge of slight amusement. "Shotaka-dono did tell me to expect a prodigy, but I did not anticipate this kind of reaction from a boy your age."

Shewas a girl of about seventeen years of age, clad in a typical high-school uniform save for the skirt, which was considerably longer than the standard issue. She had, long purple hair that reached all the way to the small other back. She was taller than the average Japanese woman, and just as well-endowed.

The shirt clung to her generous breast snugly, while her skirt hinted at the toned shapes lingering just beneath it. Even to a ten-year-old boy, this young woman could only be considered beautiful. A beauty further enhanced by the stern, yet kind expression she wore on her face.

 **[BUSUJIMA SAEKO]  
** **[LV. ?]**

"Emiya Shirou, I assume?"

"Ah, yes," he stuttered. "You must be Busujima-sensei, then. Thank you for having me." He bowed.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Emiya-kun. Forgive me for startling you."

"It's alright." He shook his head. "I imagine it was meant as test of some sort?"

"Indeed. It is unusual for Shotaka-dono to send someone my way, especially a person so young. I was...skeptic, I admit, but I can see why he recommended you so strongly. You are quite the little prodigy, aren't you?"

Shirou blushed. "Ah, it's nothing. I can't really take any credit for something I haven't really worked for."

"Ah, modest too," she chuckled. "Such a rarity."

Shirou blushed even further and fidgeted in place.

"Well then, come along Emiya-kun. Follow me closely. It's very easy to become lost in this forest. Make sure to memorize the path for the future, hm?"

"Yes, Busujima-sensei," he replied obediently, following after her.

As they walked, he took notice of her appearance and how she moved. Her steps were nearly silent and the way she shifted her weight from one foot to another was flawless and smooth. Certainly, she was a person of great skill, which probably accounted for the fact that he could not read her level with his Gamer eyes. In most RPGs (and in real life to be honest) it's very difficult to gauge the true strength of someone of much greater ability.

Shirou knew, then, that he could learn a lot from this person.

Thirty minutes of walking at a brisk pace and several intersections later, they arrived in a clearing in the forest, where a traditional Japanese building had been erected.

"Do you live here, Busujima-sensei?" he asked.

"Yes. This land has belonged to my family for generations. It is quite removed from civilization, but I like the quiet."

"It must be tiring going to school every morning from here."

"It is...inconvenient at times, yes, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Come, make yourself at home. Would you like some tea?"

"I wouldn't want to impose."

"Nonsense. If you are to be my student, this will be your place as much as it is my own."

She showed him inside the house and into the living room, where they sat together to have tea. Shirou looked around surreptitiously and his eyes met the pictures of a man and a woman high up against the wall.

"My parents," she said, confirming his suspicions. "They passed away in an accident a few years ago."

"My condolences," he offered. "So, you live here all by yourself?"

"Indeed. Why? Do you think I'm too young to live on my own?" she asked with a certain amount of teasing.

"Not at all. My last living relative passed away a little over a month ago from an illness. Since then, I have been living on my own, too."

Her eyes went wide. Such a young boy living all on his own.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Is there anything you need help with?"

Shirou smiled. "You are very kind, sensei, but you don't need to worry. My appointed guardian lives just next door from me and she checks up on me regularly. Plus, my father was big on self-reliance and taught me all I needed to know before he passed away. His death didn't exactly come as a surprise."

"I...see," she said after a moment. "You are quite the trooper, aren't you?" She smiled thinly.

Shirou scratched his head and shrugged. "I just play the hand I'm dealt."

"As do we all. Very well. At this point we should discuss the terms of your apprenticeship."

"Alright." He nodded.

"Before we begin, I'd like to make something very clear. You are the youngest person yet to come to me looking for tutelage, but you are by far not the first."

"Yeah, I guessed as much. Do you think that my age will be an issue to the other students?"

"There are no other students, Emiya-kun. They have all, without exception, quit after a single day of training."

"Oh. Harsh much?" He grinned.

"Do you believe I'm kidding, Emiya-kun?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No. You are dead serious, I can tell, but so what? They came looking for you for their own reasons and for their own reason they have given up. Either way, it has nothing to do with me."

"Is that confidence behind your words, or is it arrogance, I wonder?"

Shirou cocked his head. "Doesn't that depend on whether or not I see them through?"

A glimmer of amusement flickered in Saeko's eyes despite the stern frown she was putting on. This kid was too much.

"Well then, shall we see if that mettle of yours is the real deal?"

 **[NEW QUEST: The** **P** **ainful** **W** **ay of the Sword]  
** **[Objective:** **D** **on't give up against Saeko]  
** **[Reward: 5000XP, Relationship Status with Busujima Saeko: Disciple]  
** **[Consequence for failure: 500XP, Relationship Status with Busujima Saeko: Victim]  
** **[Accept?]  
** **[Y][N]**

"Bring it on."

* * *

 **[CRITICAL HIT! You lost 20 HP]  
** **[CRITICAL HIT! You lost 20 HP]  
** **[CRITICAL HIT! You lost 20 HP]  
** **[CRITICAL HIT! You lost 20 HP]**

Shirou was flung backward and rolled on the floor of the dojo. He stood back up in half a second, but it was more than enough for Saeko to be on him again.

She was giving him no quarter, no discounts on account of age. Shirou wouldn't have it any other way, but damn, it hurt like hell.

His [EXTREME PAIN TOLERANCE] negated pain from things that didn't do any actual damage and prevented loss of focus where it couldn't, but otherwise Shirou felt every single drop of pain.

 _T_ _h_ _wack-t_ _h_ _wack-t_ _h_ _wack!_

He parried one blow after another but she was just so damn fast that, inevitably, she managed to deliver a hit in a matter of moments.

 **[CRITICAL HIT! You lost 20 HP]**

The bokuto connected with his ribs and sent him spinning. Even then, thanks to his prowess with the sword, he managed to retaliate. It was, however, entirely futile. Saeko parried, dodged and evaded masterfully.

 **[Master Swordplay - Japanese Style has reached** **L** **v. 20]**

At the very least, he was still progressing. Saeko was sticking to ordinary swordplay as opposed to whatever personal style she'd employ when not brutally weeding out perspective apprentices.

 **[CRITICAL HIT! You lost 20 HP]**

He recovered and charged again. This time, however, she hit his wrist and disarmed him before hitting him in the stomach

 **[CRITICAL HIT! You lost 20 HP]**

"Guh."

"...That will be enough," she said, lowering her bokuto while eyeing him with a strange look. "You have definitely surpassed my expectations, Emiya-kun. I have brok- made most people give up in half the time. I'm afraid that at this rate, I won't be able to make you give up short of inflicting you with long-lasting injuries."

"That's...great," he coughed with some difficulty. "I can see why most people would quit. You certainly are a harsh mistress, sensei."

"Uh," Saeko blushed fiercely. "I suppose I am, aren't I?" She looked away with a troubled expression on her face.

"I'm sorry, did I offend you?"

"Oh? No, no. Not at all. Anyway, I think we can now formally agree that we are master and disciple. Welcome to the Busujima School of Kendo, Emiya-kun."

"Thank you for having me, sensei. I'm looking forward to learning under you."

"I'm, _hm_ _..._ " She fidgeted awkwardly in place. "I'm looking forward to teaching you."

 **[QUEST: The** **P** **ainful** **W** **ay of the Sword COMPLETE]  
** **[Reward: 5000XP, Relationship Status with Busujima Saeko: Disciple]**

Shirou cheered inwardly at the huge amount of XP. Granted, it was only a portion of the requirement for the next level but it was a huge step forward regardless. He certainly hadn't wanted to join the ranks of Busujima-sensei's victims.

"I think that will be enough for today. Let's set up a training schedule for the rest of the month, shall we?"

About an hour later, they had agreed to train two afternoons each week, plus one entire weekend every month. She refused payment, saying how it was her sworn duty to pass down the Busujima style.

Shirou returned home, more than satisfied with the agreement.

* * *

Saeko accompanied Shirou through the forest and to the bus stop, waving him off as the vehicle departed.

Honestly, Saeko didn't know what to make of him. His ability with a sword was incredible for a ten-year-old kid, but much more than that was his insane resilience. Several grown men and women with years of experience had come asking to learn the Busujima style, and she had beaten them all into submission without fail.

She shattered their pride and sent them scurrying back home mercilessly. Many of them were so utterly broken by the overwhelming defeat against a teenage girl that they had abandoned the sword altogether.

Then this kid came along, and no matter how much she had beaten him around, he just kept getting back up. Never once did he show the barest hint of giving up. Never once did he let out a frustrated cry.

He took the beating and charged back in the fray.

Saeko was divided about him. On one hand, she finally had a student with the backbone required to learn the Busujima style; on the other, however, she was... _annoyed._

Busujima Saeko had a secret known only to herself; one that she could never share with anyone. She absolutely enjoyed shattering the pride of those men and women and having them crawl powerlessly on the ground at her feet.

It was unbefitting of a samurai, she knew, and the only reason why she ever allowed herself to be like that was because it was her duty to weed out the worthy from the unworthy. However, now that she had finally a capable student she could no longer indulge herself in such behavior.

Oh, well. She still had her other duties to perform. That night was going to be a full moon, after all. _They_ would certainly come in droves.

Licking her lips predatorily, she returned home to prepare for the night.

* * *

Updated: 07/15/2016 - Last edited: 09/10/2016  
Beta: Warellis, Akemi Homura-san


	4. 0004

**[EMIYA SHIROU]  
** **[THE GAMER]  
** **[LV 15 - 6570/15000]  
** **[HP: 1500][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 600][PT: 15]  
** **[STR: 30][DEX: 30][INT: 20][WIS: 30][CHR: 44]**

Days went by, during which Shirou fell into a simple routine. Mornings were dedicated to school, afternoons to take and complete Quests around the city when he wasn't honing his skills with the sword at the dojo, and in the evening, he kept attempting to reverse the damage to his Magecraft.

So far, he had very little success with the latter. He went through the steps as Kiritsugu had taught him from scratch, but no matter what he did, he couldn't seem to active his natural circuits.

Therefore he decided not to bother with it more than strictly necessary. He would allocate an hour each day to meditate and try to find the switch, but that would be the end of it. If he were an ordinary magus, the state of his circuits would be a major impairment, but because of the [Gamer Body], he had no such limitations.

There was another thing he had realized while he tried to fix his circuits. He could only perform magecraft that had an energy consumption inferior or equal to the number of circuits, but since he could create them from his nerves, he could perform as many as he wanted. Ordinarily, that would make him a cripple in relatively short order, but simply sleeping would completely restore his body to pristine conditions.

 **[+ 1 INT for deducing something important]**

This prompt pretty much confirmed his theory. He would grind the hell out of his [Nerve Circuit]. While in the confine of his Workshop, the success rate for the skill was 100% so he didn't risk losing valuable INT points by failing to perform the technique.

To be honest, the best quirk of the [Mystic Eyes of Game Perception] after the [Gamer Body] was actually seeing how his efforts influenced his growth. He wasn't what you'd call a quitter, but much like anybody else, the inability to discern his own progress was quite demotivational.

Well, for him, at least, that weakness no longer applied.

Of course, that didn't mean it would be _easy._ Every night spent in this way raised the current level of his magic only 1%. Even if he spent every single night working on that skill alone, it'd take years to max it out.

And he still had to work on Projection and Reinforcement, which progressed more or less at the same rate, albeit being just at level 3 and level 2 respectively. He wouldn't be seeing any practical use of either for a long-ass time.

At least he could almost entirely forgo the need for sleep. He had sufficient stamina to stay awake for several days if he didn't exert himself too much and could replenish some energy by eating the food he made while leveling the [Cooking] skill. He made a point of sleeping only the night before going at the dojo, since his teacher was the type of person that would run him into the ground mercilessly.

All in all, everything seemed to be looking up for Emiya Shirou.

In hindsight, he should have known that the other shoe would drop sooner rather than later.

* * *

 **[QUEST Home Delivery: COMPLETED]  
** **[Reward: + 500XP, + 1 CHR]  
** **[Title Achieved : CHARISMATIC]**

"Huh?" he asked, as he read the message prompt.

 **[CHARISMATIC]: You have a lot of Charisma (50). People are more inclined to listen to you. Most women and some men will find you attractive. +15% discount when buying from a woman.**

As a ten-year-old, Shirou didn't have much interest in girls liking him. And while a 15% discount was nice, the thing he found more interesting was the ability to have people listen to him. He had seen his classmates arguing and sometimes coming to blows over things that only kids would argue about. He would have very much liked being able to make them stop with just words in the past. And now he could.

Seeing it as yet another tool to his arsenal he never once thought that it could have any drawback.

* * *

"E-Emiya-kun?" one of his female classmates called. She was stuttering and blushing something fierce. "W-would you like to eat lunch together?"

"Hold up!" another one called out. "I was going to ask him."

"Well, you didn't."

"Wait a moment, I was going to ask him too," yet another one announced.

"Please, calm down everyone," Shirou replied. The quarreling girls immediately stopped bickering. "There's no reason to fight over this. We can all eat lunch together. Let's all get along."

"Yeees~" the three girls agreed cheerfully.

Weird, he thought, but the [Charismatic] perk really did what it said.

But that was only the beginning, as he was forced to acknowledge that same day, when upon opening his shoe locker he was submerged in a slew of love letters.

 **[QUEST: A** **L** **ovely** **D** **ilemma]  
** **[OBJECTIVE: Answer the love letter]  
** **[Reward for success: + 10 EXP]  
** **[Consequences for failure: none]  
** **[QUEST: A** **L** **ovely** **D** **ilemma]  
** **[QUEST: A** **L** **ovely** **D** **ilemma]  
** **[QUEST: A** **L** **ovely** **D** **ilemma]  
** **[QUEST: A** **L** **ovely** **D** **ilemma]  
** **[QUEST: A** **L** **ovely** **D** **ilemma]  
** **[QUEST: ...][QUEST: ...][QUEST: ...][QUEST: ...]  
** **[QUEST: ...][QUEST: ...][QUEST: ...][QUEST: ...]**

A new Quest prompt appeared for each letter. The experience he could gain was negligible, but Shirou knew he would feel bad if he just ignored them.

He spent the afternoon answering letters and breaking young maidens' hearts.

* * *

Fujimura Taiga was a conflicted woman. On one hand, her ward was shaping up to be an incredible young man even though he was just a tiny ten-year-old. On the other, him being the recipient of a heap of love letters was a troublesome thing.

Shirou was a collected and mature young man (the term kid no longer applied to him in her mind), but being the crush of no less than 25 girls would get to anyone's head. As her legal guardian and big sister, she had a duty to see any potential arrogance stomped out of him.

For that reason, that very same evening, she went over to his place to discuss this recent turn of events.

Normally, she wouldn't visit before dinner time, but the circumstances were such that she felt necessary to address the issue as soon as possible.

She let herself in with her own copy of the key and found the house to be completely silent. Was he out? No, the light in the dojo was on, so he was probably there, practicing.

She found him indeed in the middle of his physical routine.

Shirtless, doing push-ups on the wooden floor, beads of sweat dripping down his body.

Taiga was momentarily speechless. Shirou was young but his body already showed the promise of what it would grow to become. The faint outline of muscles could be seen shifting underneath his skin as he moved up and down, seemingly tirelessly.

She swallowed, heat rushing to her face.

She didn't know how long she had been staring at him, but she couldn't bear to look away. When he finally stood up, she observed almost dazedly how a single bead of sweat worked its way down his chest and onto the hint of his abs.

"Fuji-nee?" he asked, snapping her out of her reverie. "How long have you been there?"

"Wha-? Oh, Shirou, hi. Ah ah," she laughed awkwardly. She couldn't believe she had been ogling her ten-year-old surrogate brother like a piece of meat.

"Was there something you wanted? It's too early for dinner."

"What? Ah... what did want to talk about again? Oh, right. I heard there was some commotion today. Something about love letters?"

Shirou grimaced. "Yeah. I don't know what that was all about. I spent the entire afternoon writing polite refusals. Maybe it was some kind of practical joke?"

"Ah ah," Taiga laughed, still making a conscious effort not to look at his exposed chest. "I don't think that's the case, but I'm glad you are not getting a big head over it."

"Why would I?" He shrugged. "I didn't even know most of those girls' names before today. Frankly, it was a bit unsettling. Maybe it was the summer heat?"

"It's Spring," she retorted half-heartedly. She had almost lost the battle with her impulses and she was now looking at his chest while pretending not to.

"Well, I guess that... Uh, Fuji-nee? Are you sure you're feeling alright? Your face is all red."

"What? Oh, ah, it's nothing. I just... nevermind that, Shirou. I'm just glad that you have dealt with the problem like a gentleman."

"... was there any other way to deal with it?" he asked. Probably, Taiga figured, the thought of taking advantage of those innocent girls' feelings had never once crossed his mind.

"Nope. None at all."

"Well, good. Look, I'm going to take a bath and then get started on dinner. Why don't you go have some tea in the meantime? I'll be right there."

"Yeah. I'll do that."

She watched his every step as he left the dojo. God, what was wrong with her? She needed to get herself a boyfriend and fast.

* * *

 **[Crafting/Cooking has reached lv. 20]**

Shirou acknowledged the prompt and it disappeared on its own. He was getting better and better at using his Mystic Eyes. Most things no longer required him to actually interact with the message prompts. The ability interpreted his reactions and acted accordingly. That way, at least, he wouldn't look like a moron waving at things visible only to himself, or risk walking into an object because the prompts hid it from view.

While that was all well and good, Shirou was nonetheless quite troubled. His schoolmates were acting strangely, what with the lunch issues and the love letters, and of course, Shirou couldn't help but think it was a result of his ability.

He understood the concept of charisma, but more as a magus than a man. If there was one thing that he had figured out, it was that his ability actually affected only himself. The behavior of the people changed in accordance with their perceptions of him, but it wasn't their perception that was being altered.

The opposite would have been hypnosis, and he didn't possess that ability; otherwise, it would have shown on his skill-list.

Knowing this more or less absolved him from the moral issue of unwittingly manipulating others, but the problem remained that people would be influenced by his presence nonetheless.

He needed to be careful with what he did or said.

 **[+1 WIS for thinking things through]**

He hadn't noticed Taiga's behavior, or at least he didn't understand the reason for it. Having yet to experience any sexual attraction of his own, he lacked the knowledge to recognize the signs. If he had, he probably would have made a run for it and he would have never returned.

But he didn't, just as he didn't notice her stare on his back while he cooked.

* * *

That night, Taiga went to bed feeling extremely troubled. She didn't know what had gotten into her, looking at Shirou the way she had. Worse yet, she couldn't exactly refute her reasons for it.

Shirou was very good looking, what with that red hair and those dazzling golden eyes, not to mention how his body was shaping up.

She didn't know how she hadn't noticed it before.

She didn't know why she was noticing it now.

Was it because of the love letter incidents? Did they somehow make her aware that Shirou was, in fact, the object of female affection for good reasons?

And above all, why was she still thinking about it? All those qualities aside, he was a ten-year-old, her student, her ward and her surrogate brother. Feelings of attraction for any of those four categories were wrong on all levels, which meant that it was four times wrong in her case.

Now, had Taiga just accepted her feelings and moved on, she would have been just fine. Instead, she obsessed over them, day in and day out, making it impossible for her to ignore them.

The eventual result would be something she could never take back.

* * *

Last Updated: 07/15/2016 - Last Edit: 09/10/2016  
Beta: Warellis, Akemi Homura-san

* * *

AN: Sup everyone. I'm taking a bit of space to thank by beta readers Warellis and Akemi Homura-san for the constant help they have been giving me with this story.

Secondly I wish to clarify how Shirou's ability works.

The [Mystic Eyes of Game Perception] and the [Gamer Body] don't affect others. As his [CHR] grows, people will find him more attractive because he's actually becoming such. It's not Magecraft and therefore no amount of resistance to spells will give protection from it.

This story lacks the Vitality and Luck parameters, it's been pointed out. I left them out purposefully because:

A- Vitality is pretty much fucking useless. It determines how many HP the character has but even with the [Gamer Body] people in real life don't do tanking. Furthermore, Shirou's [Die Hard] ability stacks Stamina with HP, so he wouldn't be putting any points there either, cause he'd rather be spending them in stamina.

B- Luck in a game affects the quantity and quality of the mobs drops, however in this story there is no such system and in the Nasuverse Luck is a different thing. It's the ability to defy fate. If Luck could be increased at will, all the other stats would be pointless because with sufficient Luck one wouldn't have to do anything at all and things would just go their way _entirely on its own._ It's hax as fuck and thus I dropped it.

Well, that's it for now. Thanks for reading and (hopefully) reviewing.


	5. 0005

**[EMIYA SHIROU]**  
 **[THE GAMER]**  
 **[LV 15 - 5700/15000]**  
 **[HP: 1500][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 660][PT: 15]**  
 **[STR: 33][DEX: 33][INT: 21][WIS: 31][CHR: 50]**

* * *

Shirou stepped down off of the bus and hit the dirt path that led to the Busujima dojo up in the mountains. He recalled perfectly how to navigate the maze of trees to his destination, but he still wasn't quite used to the eerie feeling that permeated the forest.

 **[Sense the Unnatural has reached level 4 – Distance increased to forty meters]**

Yeah, the place was giving off majorly strange vibes-he would have been able to tell even without the Gamer Prompt, as he had come to call it. Speaking of which, he wondered whether he was capable of doing certain things because of the Gamer ability, if the Gamer ability had integrated with his own talents, or both.

It was a reality-breaking ability in any case and he wondered how Gaia coped with it. Granted, the ability affected only Shirou himself as far as he could tell, so perhaps the will of the planet had no bearing on it.

Either way, it was a great thing to have, although Shirou wondered when it would come time for the other shoe to drop. There was no such thing as a free meal, after all, and even if he assumed that the price of this ability was the trauma of his childhood, that didn't mean that there wouldn't be more to pay as he grew into his powers.

The Mass Confessions incident just from the day before came to mind. Shirou's unusually high charisma had had an impact on his schoolmates. The ability itself did not affect them directly, but it did sufficiently change him to the point where the susceptible young minds of his aforementioned schoolmates reacted accordingly. He had dealt with it smoothly enough, but that hadn't deterred the female half of the school from vying for his affections.

Shirou wasn't an expert in human behavior-the [Broken] title told him as much-but even so, he knew that some people would eventually come to resent him. 'Power breeds conflict,' Kiritsugu had taught him, which was one of the major reasons for Magi to hide their craft.

Now, whether people realised it or not, Shirou had powers beyond his shoddy Magecraft. He could conceal his superhuman strength, speed and stamina well enough, but his charisma was a passive effect. Unless he disfigured himself somehow, he had no way to way to restrain it, and while he wasn't beyond doing exactly that if it meant ensuring other people's safety and autonomy, he knew it was ultimately useless in the long term, especially since it was the most important Stat to both acquire Quests and defuse situations without using brute force.

He was stuck with it and he could only hope that the utility of the stat would outweigh its inherent drawbacks.

 **[Sense the Unnatural had reached level 5 – Distance increased to fifty meters]**

As he became ever more lost in thought, he finally reached the dojo. Busujima-sensei was already waiting for him there.

"Good afternoon, Emiya-kun," she greeted with a polite nod. She was dressed in the same school uniform as the other day.

"Good afternoon, sensei."

"Are you ready to begin? We won't stop until the evening."

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"Very good," she nodded. "Let's begin with a bit of a warm-up first. An hour of running up the mountain path will do nicely."

There was an amused glint in her eyes, but Shirou only nodded. With his Gamer Body, as long as he had Stamina he would not feel any exertion or fatigue. Truth be told, he didn't need warming up either. For all intents and purposes, his body was that of a game character. So far he hadn't encountered any abnormal statuses, despite the unholy amounts of physical training he had subjected himself to day after day. After having unlocked his Mystic Eyes, he discovered that his muscles no longer strained, even when he purposely did the exercises incorrectly to see how they would affect him.

He came to the conclusion that there was no way he could harm himself short of performing what could be qualified as an attack to his own person.

Busujima-sensei could make him run all day long and he would still be ready to fight without any loss of performance on his part, which is exactly what happened after they came back from the warm-up session.

They were both a bit sweaty, but the only one with a hint of labored breath was Busujima-sensei. It was a pity, but his [STR] and [DEX] would no longer increase from this level of exercise.

"It seems like you are in peak physical condition, Emiya-kun," she observed.

"I do train my body every day, sensei."

"A good thing, too. Nothing less than adamantine discipline will see you through the training to come. The Busujima style is quite taxing on the human body."

Shirou merely nodded. If the training was half as harsh as she was, he had no doubts about it.

* * *

That day, Emiya Shirou learned a valuable lesson.

 **[CRITICAL HIT! You lost 20HP]**

Busujima-sensei wasn't one to make use of hyperbole. Her idea of training was not so different from her screening process for potential students. It involved pain layered upon pain.

 **[CRITICAL HIT! You lost 20HP]**

 **[Beginner Swordplay - Busujima Style has reached Lv. 55]**

At least he was getting the gist of her technique very quickly. The Busujima Style of kendo relied on using the opponent's own momentum to deliver lightning quick blows at the available openings. It was a style that emphasized battle against a superior number of foes, taking them down quickly with precise strikes.

Normally, it'd take years for anyone to learn how to read the opponent's movements and come up with an appropriate counter, but that wasn't the case for Shirou. His cumulative bonus for sword-related activities meant that he was soaking up the skill like a sponge.

This, of course, didn't go unnoticed by the sword-maiden.

There was a frown marring her face. Curiosity mixed with...something else, like she was looking for something, but it just kept eluding her-not that he had much time to ponder it while he defended himself from her onslaught. Every strike was as vicious as humanly possible. In fact, this wasn't training as much as it was a survival simulation.

It had started simply enough, with Busujima-sensei demonstrating a few basic movements on him, to which he promptly learned to counter, and it just kept escalating from there.

At some point, Shirou wondered whether or not she was still aware that this was supposed to be training, or if she was just trying to figure out how far she could push him before he reached a plateau. Unfortunately for her, though, unless he depleted his stamina, he could keep going indefinitely. With the [DIE HARD] perk not even dropping to zero HP could stop him.

* * *

 **[Beginner Swordplay - Busujima Style has reached Lv. 77]**

An hour turned into two, and then two into three. Only when the sun began to set over the horizon did she called the session off.

"That will be enough for today, Emiya-kun," she said with a barely concealed sigh in her voice. Shirou did not understand. He knew that in one single day he had progressed more than any other human being could have hoped to, and yet Busujima-sensei sounded disappointed.

"Thank you, sensei." He bowed nonetheless.

"Feel free to take a bath before leaving. The last bus for Fuyuki is going to pass in a hour."

"I understand. Thank you for your tutelage."

He decided to take advantage of her offer and made his way to the bathroom, all the while pondering what sort of unreasonable expectations his teacher had.

* * *

Busujima Saeko was a very upset young woman. Since her early childhood, she had been nothing short than a prodigy with the sword. She was the result of centuries of selective breeding, the product of genetic cherry-picking that had gone on for hundreds of generations. However, with the passing of time the clan had fallen apart.

More and more of her cousins had left, to join a modern world where the practice of the sword was a hobby at best and a relic of the past at worst, until only the main family branch was left to carry on both their legacy and their duty. Saeko had been entrusted with the first since the day she could hold a shinai, and with the untimely passing of her parents, the latter too had been placed on her shoulders.

She was twelve when it happened. The fire had been visible all the way up the mountain and she watched it scorching the city from the window of her room. Only later was she told that her parents had perished along with several hundred others.

It hadn't been easy for her all on her own. The aunt who had legally become her guardian was fully aware of the burden she had to carry, but she also did not want any part in it.

The Busujima were a clan of warriors who taught self-reliance from an early age and Saeko had been able to live by herself without too many problems. However, because of her circumstances, she hadn't been able to make any friends. Even if she still had her parents, it would have been quite difficult to make friends with ordinary people.

Between training, fighting them and looking for eventual disciples she didn't have the time.

The only thing she had left, as well as her only solace, was her swordsmanship, her confidence in her own ability. Never once in her life she had lost to someone her age or lower, and even the older practitioners had a hard time against her.

She could have been an exemplary samurai, but tragedy and circumstance had conspired against her. Victory was her only purpose and in time she learned how to appreciate it as much as she could.

It was a slow process, aided by the flames of puberty. She never interacted with boys much. Like any other teenager she experienced crushes, but she had neither the time nor the social skills to pursue them. The only constants in her life were the sword and victory and eventually they became the only things that mattered.

Slowly she had come to enjoy her superiority, relishing in the broken form of her opponents. Breaking their pride and filling their hearts with despair was the only proof that she lived in a world where she would have been invisible otherwise.

Of course she knew it was wrong. She had been brought up with certain morals, such as never looking down upon an opponent that had fought honorably, and while outwardly she treated everyone with respect, it was only lip service.

Each time she broke someone, she gave them hollow words of consolation, while inciting them to improve themselves further, but inwardly… inwardly she was trembling with excitement.

Every time after she had dismissed her victims she locked herself in her room and unleashed in complete solitude the flames of her twisted core, feeling ashamed of herself every time afterwards, promising herself each time that it would not happen again.

Of course it kept happening, over and over again until she had come to accept that her heart was rotten, looking forward to the next challenger to come fawn the flames of her lust.

Then Emiya Shirou had come. Unlike the rest of the potential disciples, she had warned him off; she had told him that she broke people. It was not so much for his sake as it was for hers.

She was afraid that she would enjoy breaking him too. A child with bright eyes and great potential. She knew that if she did it, if she really came to arouse herself by shattering the spirit of one so young, she would hit rock bottom.

He hadn't taken her advice-he didn't run from the monster that she was, and Saeko had gone into the dojo dreading to break him and simultaneously salivating at the prospect.

But he had not broken. She had struck him furiously, mercilessly, showing her superiority at each and every turn despite the evident skills he had brought to bear.

Pain did not deter him and humiliation did not seem to register. How someone could be so full of motivation and so lacking in pride at the same time Saeko did not know, but for the first time in years she had been stalled.

At first she was so surprised by him that she had all but forgotten about her desire, but then he returned for their first lesson and again her expectations came to the forefront. She scolded herself and tried to teach him properly, but with every strike he deflected, with every landed hit he shrugged off, the bubble within her lower abdomen kept swelling but never came close to bursting off.

Eventually she had to dismiss him for the day and watched him leave without feeling anything but frustration.

This was, without doubt, her karma. The punishment for having such a disgusting, rotten heart.

* * *

 **[EMIYA SHIROU]**  
 **[THE GAMER]**  
 **[LV 15 - 7700/15000]**  
 **[HP: 1500][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 740 ][PT: 15]**  
 **[STR: 37][DEX: 37][INT: 21][WIS: 31][CHR: 52]**

Weeks passed, and Shirou kept up with his routine without missing a beat. New Quests were lacking so far and his progression had stalled. If this was an actual videogame, there would be enemies to fight in order to gain EXP, however there was no such thing nearby and that was… unexpectedly troubling.

That was when Shirou realized a fundamental thing. In order to be save someone, someone else needs being saved first. In order to become a hero, a villain must appear.

He didn't like it one bit. Already, Kiritsugu had told him that a hero is such only to those he manages to protect when choosing who to save and now he had come to realize that wishing to be a hero was the same as wanting tragedies to happen. He didn't want that. He didn't want people getting hurt.

No-in fact, the only thing he wanted was for the people in front of him not to cry.

Perhaps he would never become a hero, then. It was fine if he remained like this, but he would keep getting stronger, and if it ever came the time when a hero was needed, he would be ready.

So he kept going to the Busujima dojo and training. His skill in the Busujima Style had reached level 50 in the intermediate category and now he could hold his own against Saeko-sensei much better. Sure enough, she could probably still waste him if she brought out the big guns, but then again those were probably going to turn out lethal even with bamboo swords. The lucky thing was that he didn't exactly need to learn them specifically. As his ability in the style grew, he automatically learned the techniques even if Saeko-sensei still had to show them.

The progression in the Busujima-style was way slower than the Japanese-style, but then again, for the latter he had been watching several masters and even more apprentices practicing it, whereas for the former he had only interacted with one person. Moreover, it was a far superior technique, so of course it took more practice to acquire even with his insane boost. Still he would master it in less than two months, whereas it would take any other talented human several years to do the same.

More importantly, he was worried for Saeko-sensei. He hadn't known her for long, but she was behaving oddly as far as he was concerned. She was violent… well, she had violent since day one but there had always been unbreakable discipline in her eyes. However, as days passed, the look in her eyes changed. She still looked firmly in control while they sparred, but she looked like a wild beast ready to devour her prey, only then to… sort of slump down and shrink on herself, and thus the beast was replaced with a tired-looking girl and since that happened, she had grown cold and distant. It almost felt like she didn't want him around but was forced to put up with him.

Now, Shirou wasn't an expert at reading people, but he had the strong impression that she was troubled by something. However, there wasn't a Quest mark above her, and therefore either she didn't intend to ask him for help, or Shirou himself didn't have the minimum required stats to make her trust him enough to help her. Now, her problem could be a personal issue of little consequence, but the fact that she lived up a mountain in the middle of a forest that gave off powerful supernatural vibes, he wasn't inclined to believe that.

So what could he do? Even though he was the Gamer, that applied to him alone. Bad things wouldn't wait for him to meet the requirements before happening. He had to figure it out before something went wrong and he saw no other way but to ask.

Before asking, however, he had looked up the status of their relationship and much to his surprise it had skyrocketed. He had started as her [Disciple], with zero points out of 5000, but now the counter read a solid 4325 in less than a month. He had assumed that relationship status would be affected only by quests, but then he realized that there was no reason why the the parameter couldn't increase like his stats. After all, relationships aren't usually determined by single events, but by several occurrences.

So, Saeko-sensei wasn't upset with him, or if she was, it somehow contributed to their relationship. He couldn't begin to fathom how the latter could be.

Again it seemed like the only option was to ask.

"Have I done something to offend you, sensei?" he asked after they finished the latest training session.

"Not that I know of," she said simply, cocking her head. "What makes you ask?"

"It's just… you seem uncomfortable all the time around me."

"It's nothing you need to concern yourself with. I'm perfectly fine, I assure you."

So she said, but Shirou wasn't convinced in the least. She didn't so much as meet his eyes while they talked. However, if she was unwilling to speak about it, there was nothing he could do about it. He was sure that if he just met the parameters, he'd be able to see the Quest sign above her head. Did he need more [CHR] or maybe he had first to level up their relationship?

He didn't know, but he would find out.

* * *

After Shirou had left, Saeko sat in her bathtub herself, trying to ease the frustration she felt. She wasn't used to be so high-strung all the time. Her opponents were usually dealt with swiftly and painfully, both physically and mentally, and she just forgot about them once she had gotten her pleasure from them. She wasn't used being stuck with one that would neither go away nor submit. Now, three weeks after the beginning of his training, he was about the only thing Saeko could think of when she wasn't otherwise occupied, not only because he was the source of her inner conflicts, but also because he was a huge mystery. She had looked him up and there was nothing out of the ordinary with his history other than the tragedies that had struck him time and time again. His ability to learn her style was insane and if he kept it up, in a month's time, she wouldn't have anything left to teach him. Worse yet, there was something...off about him.

Now, Saeko wasn't precisely familiar with kids, but there was no denying that Emiya Shirou didn't fit the mould of an ordinary child. There was a…presence about him that a kid his age had no business having.

It only made her want to break him even more.

Leaning back her head, she bit her lip. Even just imagining his face contorted in pain and frustration gave her the shivers. Before she even noticed, her hands had slid down the smooth plains of her stomach and between of her long legs.

"What am I doing?" she murmured, as deft fingers sought the entrance of her womanhood. "He's just - ah – just a kid and yet I…"

'S-sensei please,' he begged with watery eyes in her imagination.

"Oh! Ahn!" Saeko moaned in real life. Her fingers had found easy access and had started to fiddle with her wet folds. "This… I never…"

She wasn't a stranger to this. Every time she had thoroughly broken someone, she had inevitably found herself aroused and had to deal with it on her own, but never before she had fantasized about it.

And yet here she was, making up images of her pupil, defeated and broken at her feet, begging her for something she could not visualize. Emiya Shirou, she knew, wouldn't beg to be spared from pain, would not cry over wounded pride. She didn't know what she could make him beg for, but just imagining the face he would make sent white sparks into her mind while her fingers tortured her innermost place.

"I'm the worst. Hmmm! I'm really the worst! Ah! Ah! Ooooh!"

Her release washed over her. Her legs tensed and trembled. Her body shook and then, slowly fell limp.

She stayed there for a while, staring at the ceiling. With her lust now sated, all the was left was the hollow, churning sense of guilt and self-loathing.

She left the water a few minutes later and dried herself. Her body might have been clean but her heart…her heart was as filthy as it got.

* * *

Updated: 09/10/2016

Beta: Akemi Homura-san

* * *

Sup, sorry for the long wait and the short chapter. I had three times this much written but I wasn't happy with it so I scrapped it. Hopefully, I'll have more by the end on next week.

I made a few corrections to Shirou's stats, nothing major so there's no reason to go back and read it again if you take the new stats at face value.

Now, there are a few things that needed to be addressed from both reviews and private messages such as:

\- Q: Why doesn't he have the "observe" skill?  
\- A: Of course he has it. It's called Structural Analysis. It works differently and currently only on inanimate objects, but that's the Nasuverse for you.

\- Q: No, just no. Shirou didn't have projection at the beginning of the game..  
\- A: Wrong. Canonically, Shirou learned Projection before he did Reinforcement. However he never mentioned it because generally speaking Projection is considered a useless skill, which is correct, unless you can pull Noble Phantasms out of your ass.

\- Q: Can Shirou use his points to increase his MC count?  
\- A: Sure he can, but that would be a waste since he can do Nerve Circuits.

\- Q: Did that mean Rin and Sakura also 5 years older than Shirou here?  
\- A: I realize I didn't make it much clear. In this story, at the moment of the great Fuyuki Fire (end of Fate/Zero) nearly every female character was five years older than canon. Rin was eleven, Sakura was ten, Taiga was twenty and so on and so forth. Only Shirou was around five years old as per canon.

\- Q: Why you make Shiro younger?  
\- A: It all started from a challenge on AdultFanfiction (by the way look me up on there as Ichasennin, in case this story is ever taken down). It required for Shirou to be molested by older women/monster girls for shit and giggles. I like the idea well enough, but not so much to make a story out of it, so I decided to spice it up with a solid (hopefully) The Gamer Crossover.

That'd be all for the time being. Thank you for reading and reviewing.


	6. 0006

_There are moments in life when one has to admit to have made a mistake, or at the very least to have grossly miscalculated._

 _Such were the considerations that Emiya Shirou was forced to make, as he laid on the forest floor at dawn, with Busujima Saeko straddling his body and with her sword mere inches from his face._

 _Yep, nothing had gone as planned. Not at all._

* * *

 **[EMIYA SHIROU]**  
 **[THE GAMER]**  
 **[LV 15 - 8100/15000]**  
 **[HP: 1500][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 740 ][PT: 15]**  
 **[STR: 37][DEX: 37][INT: 21][WIS: 31][CHR: 52]**

As time went by, Shirou grew increasingly concerned with Busujima-sensei's health. Each time they met, she looked more tired and more haunted than the time before. Of course, she was adamant that everything was fine and casually dismissed Shirou's concerns.

Needless to say, his concerns were not assuaged in the least. Coincidentally, it was time for him to stay over at the dojo for the entire weekend as they had agreed after he had been accepted as a student.

Perhaps it was bold and improper, but Shirou resolved to take a look around while he was there and see if he could figure what troubled his teacher so.  
Having packed his bag, Shirou left for the dojo, ready to solve this problem once and for all.

* * *

Busijima Saeko's body was covered in sweat. Her naked form was writhing on the covers of her futon, while her fingers danced madly across the sensitive spots.

"Hmm," she moaned, bucking her hips as umpteenth, self-imposed orgasm of the night washed across her.

The sun was dawning over the mountain, casting its damning light over the sins of a young woman. She laid there, body trembling in the afterglow, with an arm resting over her face to shield her eyes and hide her shame equally.

She was going mad. No, she had always been mad and now she was going crazy. Something had broken within her.

After the first time she had pleasured herself with the twisted fantasies of abusing her disciple, things had started to go downhill and she had been powerless to do anything about it other than let this ruinous fall carry her further and further down.

Not a day went gone by that she wouldn't indulge in her madness at least once and on the days she trained him, she would spend the entire night masturbating furiously until dawn.

She had tried not to. She had forced herself to sleep, ignoring her body's demands but she winded up dreaming of him, waking up in the middle of the night covered in sweat, feeling in equal parts horrified and aroused.

In the end, she had to give in. Sleep would elude her until she yielded to her rotten heart, after which she fell into a brief slumber filled with shame and self-loathing.

It only got worse when he had asked about her wellbeing.

Emiya Shirou was far from unobservant, she knew, but the fact that he brought up her condition while completely unware that he was the catalyst of her plight served only to magnify her condition. She felt disgusted with herself, while the twisted part of her mind suggested her to show him exactly what was wrong with her and make those delirious, delicious fantasies into reality.

She would reign herself in every time, of course, and pretended that everything was fine. If she ever did listen to the whispers of her wicked heart, she would have to commit seppuku.

Death was becoming an increasingly appealing solution to her. She wondered whether or not she should just take the blade and free herself from her misery before she forced it on Shirou.

However, she still had a duty to perform, something that the samurai in her could not just abandon. Perhaps, after Shirou had learned all the secrets of the Busujima family, she could leave the task to him and see herself out in a permanent fashion, before he could also figure out the secrets of her heart.  
However, that was neither here or there. He was still too young for that, even if his skills would soon catch up with hers. What she had to worry about now was the fact that he was going to stay over for two days, and she had no clue how to bear with it.

With a resigned sigh, she pulled herself up. He would be arriving soon, and the least she could do was looking presentable instead of a sticky mess of dried sweat and arousal.

* * *

Shirou arrived at the dojo shortly after dawn. Having walked the path up the mountain several times in the previous weeks, his [Sense the Unnatural] had reached level 10, which meant that he could detect supernatural forces in a hundred-meters radius.

He was a bit earlier than expected, on account of the buses finding less traffic in the early morning hours. He had considered waiting around until the agreed upon hour, but ultimately decided not to, mostly because the forest creeped him out, and also because he had already made up his mind to look around the place. Being discourteous by arriving early was the least of his worries.

"Busujima-sensei?" he called out as he knocked on the door.

"Emiya-kun? Come on in."

He did so, removing his shoes, putting on a pair of slippers and making his way to the living room where he guessed her voice was coming from.  
She was indeed there, as expected. What he did not expect was finding with her still damp hair draped across her shoulder, wearing a simple white hakama, slightly loose across the chest, but otherwise clinging to every curve of her body.

"Huh," he stuttered. "I'm sorry, I'm a bit early. I'll come back later."

He was feeling strangely warm around the face and didn't exactly know why. Her figure was making his heart beat faster.

"There is no need for that Emiya-kun. I'll be ready in a moment. Have a seat and I'll be right there," she said, standing up to her feet and leaving the room.

The scent of flowery shampoo made him feel strangely dizzy and his heart skipped a beat when she brushed past him. Shirou didn't know what this feeling was, but it wasn't unpleasant. However, he had the strong impression that it was not polite to stare at the retreating form of his teacher, the white cloth hugging her strong back and firm bottom almost like a second skin, following the slight sway of her hips.

He shook his head to clear up his mind. This wasn't the time to get strange thoughts. He had to focus on the task at hand.

* * *

Saeko closed the door to her room with her heart hammering in her chest.

Even though he was early, she hadn't been worried about him seeing her like that. He was still ten years old, after all-far too young to be entertaining certain thoughts about women. She didn't take into account that his exceptional mental maturity could well also manifest precociousness in other areas.  
Seeing his gaze flicker from her face and down to her chest surprised her, but not in an unpleasant manner.

She was not a stranger to lustful stares. She might have been socially awkward due to her upbringing, but she was not outright naive. Both her male schoolmates and some of the prospective disciples had cast more than one glance at her form in the past. She had been entirely unperturbed at the time, feeling neither pleased nor displeased about it.

However, when saw Shirou losing his composure for the first time in over a month, her heart skipped a beat. Without thinking and with more mischief than she ever felt like in her life, she purposefully walked past him, putting an extra sway to her hips, shivering as she felt his gaze caressing her back.

What the hell was she doing?

Not one minute into what promised to be the longest two days of her life and she was already stirring trouble for herself and the one person she wanted to spare from her ugliness.

She thought she knew how rotten she was, but this was a new low. Teasing a ten-year-old with her body? There was really no hope left for her.

* * *

While his teacher was getting ready, Shirou looked around the place. He felt like a burglar, snooping while keeping an ear out for owner of the place.

He didn't even know what he was looking for, he just wanted to find something that would give him a hint on how to help Busujima-sensei.  
His search produced nothing and he was forced to abort the mission when he heard the a door sliding open and close, followed by approaching footsteps.

"I'm ready," she said, sounding frostier than ever. She didn't look relaxed in the first place, but it was like her mood had soured in the span of five minutes. "Let's get started with the training."

Shirou couldn't help but think it was his fault somehow. He knew that he shouldn't have looked at her like that.

* * *

Wrong. It was all wrong.

Just a few hours earlier, she had been reprimanding herself over her behavior, but within a morning of furious sparring she was right back to square one.

The Beast in her chest roared while they exchanged blows. He had already gotten to the point where he could hold his ground against her well enough for a while and she didn't have to hold back much anymore.

She still had the advantage over him, but it was a close thing. He had yet to score a single hit on her, but that was only because she did not let her guard down in the slightest. He had gotten good enough that she could not afford a single distraction.

 _'I want to break him.'_

Wooden swords clashed repeatedly against one another, echoing loudly in the otherwise empty dojo.

 _'I want to break him.'_

Sweat flew as the two danced around one another, seeking the fatal opening.

 _'I want to break him.'_

Strike, dodge, parry. The two combatants were at a stalemate. Neither one of them would get the upper hand at that rate.

 _'I want to break him!'_

Her focus wavered, mind caught in thoughts that didn't belong on the battlefield. Her opponent saw it happen and struck without hesitation. Her honed instincts took over and she reacted with more strength that she should have, hitting him squarely across the face. She watched with growing horror as he flew across the dojo, rolling on the floor until he stopped with a sick thud against the wall.

She had killed him. There was no way he could have survived that. It was a blow meant to kill things more resilient that humans and she had used it against a kid simply because she could not control herself.

In that moment the Beast was utterly silent. For all the sins of her heart, Busujima Saeko did not truly desire to harm anyone. To prevail and dominate yes, but not to harm.

And all it took for her figure it out was killing the person she respected the most and-

"Whoa!" he said standing back to his feet, looking no worse for wear. "That was one hell of a counter, sensei."

The ice that had taken ahold of her heart shattered and she was left staring at an impossibility.

"I... let's take a break," she managed to stutter.

"Already? I'm still good to go."

"I said, let's take a break," she all but snarled and then recoiled at the viciousness in her own voice. She did not wait for him to acknowledge her decision as she walked out of the dojo. She needed space. She needed time to figure him and herself out.

* * *

Shirou didn't know what the hell had just happened. First, Busujima-sensei had struck him with enough power to score a critical hit worth 500HP-a third of his total life-force, that also made him gain 25 levels in the Busujima style at once-and then she stomped away after lashing out at him verbally.

Yeah, say what you want but she did have a problem with him. It was maddening, because he didn't know what he could have done and because their relationship meter was at 4999 out of 5000 which meant that they should have gotten along better.

Something was afoot there and he didn't know what. He opened his STATUS menu and stared at his STATS intensely.

He had 15 PTs to allocate as he wished. Fifteen hard-earned points. He kept them in reserve in case he ever came across a situation he could not solve with his current strength, if he used them now, he'd lose a trump card that could get him out of a pinch.

Of course, Emiya Shirou did not even falter in front of such a decision. Without hesitation, he poured all of his points into CHR and confirmed his decision.

Nothing seemed to happen. No new skill or title had been unlocked but that didn't mean anything yet. Rolling his shoulders, he followed after Saeko, fully intending to wriggle the truth out of her once and for all.

* * *

She sat on a bench under a tree behind her house.

She didn't know what was going on with herself and the world anymore. Her heart was a jumble of opposing emotions and her mind was lost amidst an ocean of confusion.

Just a few moments before, she had believed to have accidentally killed her pupil, only for him to get back on his feet like nothing had happened.

That just wasn't possible. She had hit him with enough strength to send him flying several meters and he wasn't even bruised. Emiya Shirou was even less normal than she first thought he was.

However, that was the least of her concerns. In that moment, when she thought she had killed him she felt as if something immeasurable had been lost. It wasn't only the extreme guilt that had gripped her heart.

For the past month, she had grown increasingly obsessed with him. He had started as a small curiosity, which soon changed into frustration because she could not make him yield. She was so taken by this that she had not noticed that another part of her had come to greatly respect the young, relentless man.

He was everything she wished she could be. Skilled, yes, but also perceptive, determined, and pure-hearted. Under the guise of teaching him, she lashed out at him every time in an attempt to break him for her own pleasure, and at the end of the day, when satisfaction escaped her, he worried about her.

He worried about the person who tried to break his spirit every time she had the chance. How could she live with that? How could she live with herself?

"Sensei?" his voice called a few meters behind her and she stiffened. She did not want to face him right now.

"Please, leave me alone, Emiya-kun."

"Sensei, please, tell me what's wrong," he insisted, getting closer and closer until he stood right in front of her. She couldn't bring herself to look up.

"Go away," she told him in a whisper. Her soft, quiet tone belied her inner turmoil.

"I can't," he replied equally softly. "Not until you tell me how I can help you."

This time she did look up. She wanted to tell him that he could not help her, that he could not save her. But she could not.

The sunlight piercing across the leaves above them had cast dancing shadows across his face, but even then she found herself trapped in a mesmerizing shade of gold. His eyes appeared to be shining with a light of their own, as if a shard of the sun itself had found its way in there. His gaze seemed to pierce right through her like the swords both of them were so attuned to, exposing her soul.

"You can't help me, Emiya-kun. No one can help me."

* * *

 **[NEW QUEST: A MAIDEN'S HEART]**  
 **[Objective: Solve the mystery of Saeko's troubled heart.]**  
 **[Reward for success: 12.000 EXP, Upgraded relationship with BUSUJIMA SAEKO, ?]**  
 **[Consequences for failure: 5.000 EXP, BUSUJIMA SAEKO'S DEATH!]**  
 **[Accept?]**  
 **[Y/Y]**

The Quest prompt did not have an option for refusal, but it was not mandatory. It was not being forced upon him.

And yet he was not surprised in the least.

This was a product of his own ability, of his own eyes.

And the world reflected in those eyes did not include the possibility of refusing to save the person in front of him.

It was that simple.

"So you say," he replied, "and perhaps you also believe that for real. Even so, Sensei, I will save you."

He turned around and walked away. He had intended to pry an answer from her lips, but he could see that would not work. Whatever plagued her was something that could kill her and there was no way she would share that with him.

He just had to watch over her and strike down this threat the moment it presented itself. He promised to himself that he would not fail.

* * *

Saeko sat there, stunned, with a flush spreading across her face and a hand over her chest.

Her heart beat steadily in her chest, making her feel in a way she never experienced before. It wasn't arousal or excitement, but something quieter, yet more profound.

 _I will save you_ , he had promised, and for a moment, as she stared at his retreating back, she almost believed that he could.

But he couldn't. After all, how is one saved from themselves in the first place?

And yet, she thought that if someone could truly save her, that person could be no other than him.

That much she could believe in.

* * *

Night came over Fuyuki and the surrounding mountains, eventually. Shirou did not receive any further training that day and Saeko insisted for him to return home for the day.

He looked reluctant, but ultimately he agreed and Saeko was finally on her own again.

The afternoon passed as a crawling trickle, the sun going through its arc without caring for the plights of men and women, until it settled beyond the horizon and clothed the world in darkness, save for the full moon.

Saeko cursed herself, seeing the pale disk hung in the sky. So taken was she with her own plight that she had completely forgotten about it.

 _They_ would come tonight, more so than any other time of the month. She didn't have the spirit to face _them_ , and a sword without spirit would not serve against _them._

Yet, she had no other choice but to go. It was her duty, after all.

* * *

Shirou had returned home that afternoon, packed food, water, a sleeping bag and immediately jumped on the next bus back to the mountain.

Like he was just going to give up and go back home quietly. The only reason why he came back for any stretch of time was to let Busujima-sensei think he wasn't around so that she wouldn't hide her problems, as well as to pack what he needed for an extensive stake-out.

It took him a few hours to make the round trip and by the time he had gotten back it was already dark.

The forest at night was an entirely different beast that during the day. His [Sense the Unnatural] skill advanced a couple of levels just in the time it took him to go from the entrance to the dojo, where he hid in the bushes close to the clearing.

There was only one light on, which Shirou assumed was Busujima-sensei's.

He sat there and waited, and waited and waited. The evening transitioned smoothly into the night. The single light still on in the house told him that she was still awake. Sometimes, he saw her silhouette move through the curtains.

In fact, he could see her right now, standing in front of the windows. She was... changing he guessed. Preparing to go to sleep, most likely.

Wait, not unless her sword was part of the sleepwear.

The light went off and a moment later, she walked out of her house.

Shirou couldn't quite believe his eyes.

Her hair was gathered in a high ponytail that reached about halfway her back. However, while the practical look suited her, it was just about the only thing that Shirou deemed in any way appropriate.

She had on a pair of armored heeled boots that reached all the way up to her mid-thigh. He knew for certain, because that's about where her black skirt started to cover her legs; however, that was true only for the front and the back, because both sides featured a slit that stopped only at the waist and that hinted at a very small piece of underwear, if the string he could see was any indication. On her torso she wore the shirt of her school uniform with the added protection of a set of armored gauntlets not too dissimilar from her boots.

What kind of outfit was that? It sure looked practical to move in. Shirou was quite sure it wouldn't restrict her movement in the least, although he couldn't vouch for the heels. Regardless, it was quite indecent.

Where was she going dressed like that at that hour of the night, with a sword at her side?

There was no other choice but to follow her.

That was easier said than done, though. She was perceptive, after all. He couldn't follow her from too close, otherwise she'd detect him.

For that reason, it wasn't long before he lost sight of her in the maze of twisted pathways amongst the trees.

"Damn it," he swore under his breath. "Which way did she go?"

He tried to use [Detect Presence]; however, that skill was only level one. Skills developed with use and if he guessed correctly, it was considered such only when there was somebody hidden from sight within its existing range. At this point in time, it was completely useless.

He could only pick a path randomly, hoping that it would lead to her.

* * *

Saeko walked at a steady pace, using the time it took to reach _that_ place to put her breathing and her mind under control. In this condition, she could not win. The best she could hope for was to contain _them_ until dawn. If she was lucky, she would survive.

It wasn't long before the trees parted and Saeko stood on the old, familiar battleground.

The clearing was a few hundred meters in diameter, but unlike the other clearings in the forest, this one was completely barren. Nothing could grow here.

Indeed, this was a place where _death_ gathered. Nothing could thrive in this place.

The air was heavy with a malignant presence and the light of the full moon did nothing to ease this feeling. In fact, it made it worse. Saeko's arrival was the straw that broke the camel's back.

A strong wind started to blow, tearing the ground apart. Malice gathered and when the dust settled, _they_ stood there.

Shambling corpses, both male and female, dressed in differing kinds of attire. From samurai of old, to soldiers from World War II-people who died violently and left an impression of their grudges in the world of the living. It gathered here, where the primal energies of the world were strong and took the shape of those who had died to visit their grudges onto the living.

The duty of the Busujima family was to see them returned to their rest, however temporarily.

With a hiss of steel, she unsheathed her blade. As if was a mutually agreed upon signal they charged at her by the dozens.

Gritting her teeth, she threw herself at them.

* * *

Emiya Shirou was facing a huge crisis.

He had come across several forks in the road, and he was, by now, completely lost. However, he couldn't just stop. He kept running through the trees, searching for any clues and every hint.

He had been running for half an hour when he heard it. Somewhere, in the distance, the sound of steel echoed all the way to him.

She was fighting against an unknown enemy and he wasn't with her. Biting his lip, he resumed running in the direction he thought the sounds came from, completely forgoing paths and trails.

"Hold on, sensei. I'll be right there," he promised, hoping that he would not fail to fulfill it.

* * *

Saeko lost herself in the familiar rhythm of battle.

Her heart might have been in disarray, but her body still knew what it had to do. The undead kept coming without relent; hundreds of them now filled the clearing, and she was unable to lessen their numbers.

A simple blade was not sufficient to disperse the malice that gave them form. It also required for the wielder to channel their own spirit into the steel and untangle the knot that held them together.

However, Saeko was in no condition to do something like that. Over the previous month, her mental fortitute had been slowly eroded by uncertainty and self-loathing and she was unable to bring herself together.

Every time she struck one of them, they reformed in mere moments, all the while more and more rose from thin air and swarmed her.

It was a hopeless battle, yet one from which she could not retreat. Were it a different night, even if they got loose and spread through the forest, they wouldn't get far before dawn forced them away, and she could hunt the strays effortlessly in the course of the successive nights.

A night of full moon was an entirely different matter. They were born by the dozens and they kept spawning until morning. They were also unnaturally faster and stronger than normal. If one of them got away, chances were that it would get too far out before she could track it, and if an unlucky soul stumbled upon it, well, the fate of those slain by them was to join their ranks.

As long as she was there, alive and breathing, they would focus their grudges on her, but the moment she fell, they would swarm down the mountain and toward the city.

That could not be allowed. Even if Fuyuki had its own protectors, many innocent bystanders would fall before the threat could be contained.

Therefore, Saeko would keep fighting a battle that could not be won.

Even with her superior body and skills, she was hard pressed to keep up. They came from every direction, unafraid of injury and uncaring of self-preservation.

Her sword blurred, severing head after head, but they just kept coming. She didn't know how long she had been going at it. It felt like hours, but it was likely only just a few minutes.

She had underestimated the threat. Never before she had been pressed by such overwhelming numbers. The Busujima style emphasized on killing with a single strike, for the express purpose of facing an enemy with superior numbers.

Right now her blows could only incapacitate them and for a few moments at best. Even then there was no respite to be found, as for each one she struck down, two others were ready to take its place.

Only her superior speed and flawless technique gave her a semblance of even footing, but they had another advantage on her as they would never tire.

How long could she hope to hold up? How long before she started to slow down? How long before she started to falter?

The light of dawn seemed hopelessly distant.

* * *

Shirou kept running through the trees, completely ignoring the branches that scraped at his face, tearing at his clothes. He had abandoned his backpack sometime earlier in favor of a higher mobility, keeping only his bokuto.

The sounds of battle were getting closer and closer. It felt like an army was waging war on the mountain and his sensei had to be right in the middle of it-there was no other possibility.

He pushed his body even further, briefly thanking the heavens for his high stamina and for having had the foresight to pack his own home-made food, which had restored the energy he had spent during the day.

He charged ahead. He had to make it in time.

* * *

Time had lost all meaning for Saeko. The only things that mattered was the endless waves of malice, the sword that stood between it and her, and the aching of her body.

They had finally started to get past her defenses. Glancing blows had struck her, nibbling at her clothes.

Her shirt had ripped open; the bra underneath holding together by a single thread. Her skirt was almost entirely gone as well. Only a small portion of cloth remained to cover her backside, doing a very poor job at it. Even her ponytail had gotten loose and her hair was whipping wildly in the air as it followed her high speed moment, like a dark comet trail.

She wasn't going to make it.

Her lungs burned and her heart screamed in pain. Every single fibre of her body was demanding that she stop-a need held at bay only by survival instinct. Even her body knew that if she stopped of a single moment, she'd die.

She was getting pushed back, completely forced on the defensive. Desperation was abandoning her in favour of resignation, her sword getting so much heavier with every passing moment.

She would die here, in this place. They would tear away at her flesh and rip her soul out, forcing her into their ranks.

Perhaps it was for the best. Someone like her should be on the side of the monsters, after all.

And yet, even though she acknowledged this, even though she had come to accept it as her fate, when her sword was finally wrenched away from her hands, she felt sorry.

Sorry that she had not been able to be honest with him, sorry that she had not been able to tell him how much she had come to mean for her, sorry that he had to disappoint him and lastly, sorry that he would not get to keep his promise.

She would have really, really wanted to be saved by him.

She closed her eyes, and she let them claim her.

 **"SENSEIIII!"**

* * *

 **[You have entered in a special Area]**  
 **[BATTLEFIELD OF THE UNDEAD]**  
 **[While in this area the use of arcane techniques does not break the Masquerade]**

Shirou did not even glance at the message. His eyes were focused on the form of Saeko, fighting for dear life, surrounded by hundreds of moving corpses.

He did not care for their origins-spared no thought for the circumstances other than getting there where she stood, alone and overwhelmed.

He saw in ever growing horror as she was disarmed and his heart screamed as she was swallowed by the sea of rotten flesh.

"SENSEIIII!" he shouted, leaping over the mass of corpses with his bokuto posed to strike. He swung the blade with all the power he had and simultaneously crushed several skulls, landing besides her and immediately engaging the enemies to keep them away from her.

* * *

Saeko blinked. On the verge of dying she must have been granted one last dream. She thought he had heard his voice and then a moment later, the hands that had been pulling at her in an attempt to tear her apart vanished and he stood above, sword poised to protect her.

"Shirou...?" she asked, almost expecting to wake up right in that moment and that the figure of his back would be replaced by the rotting faces of the undead.

"Sensei, please get back on your feet," he said as he fended off the sea of corpses. She was so stunned by this apparition that she got back up without even noticing the pain from the cuts that she had suffered.

He was striking them and they disappeared completely, unable to reform.

How? She had yet to teach him how to infuse his spirt into the sword. There was no way he could have learned on his own.

Or could he? To infuse spirit, the heart must be void of any and every doubt. No fear must be felt even in the face of death.

He hadn't learned on his own at all. In the first place, Emiya Shirou did not doubt his actions and did not fear for his own life. She could see it now.

She found herself picking up her sword again, marveling at how light it felt.

Why? Just moments before it felt like it weighted like a mountain and now it was like a feather.

 _'He came for me.'_

Was that enough? Even though she was a such a wicked woman, the fact that he came for her was enough to patch her heart back together? When, exactly did he became so important that his mere presence was enough to give her strength?

She did not know. She did not understand. All she knew for certain was that he had come and that her blade was singing in her hands once more.

She stepped forward and joined the fray once again.

* * *

 **[Normal Undead slain: 100XP gained]**  
 **[Normal Undead slain: 100XP gained]**  
 **[Normal Undead slain: 100XP gained]**  
 **[Normal Undead slain: 100XP gained]**

 **[You have gained a level]**

 **[Normal Undead slain: 100XP gained]**  
 **[Normal Undead slain: 100XP gained]**  
 **[Normal Undead slain: 100XP gained]**

It went on and on and on. Shirou kept striking down at the seemingly endless army of corpses, but he did not care about it in the least. All he was focusing on was keeping these creatures away from Saeko.

Their horrid appearance did not faze him in the slightest. Even if he hadn't been so focused in protecting her, the sight of human corpses did not bother him in the least.

He just struck and struck and struck again.

 **[You have gained a level]**  
 **[You have gained a level]**  
 **[You have gained a level]**

He kept going for so long that he completely lost every notion of time. Only when dawn finally came and the last remaining corpses faded into nothing did Shirou become once again aware of himself.

Immediately his eyes sought for her and he found her standing a few meters away, sword in hand, staring right back at him.

She looked fine, save for a few minor cuts on her legs and torso.

Then he blinked and finally took notice of the condition of her clothes. Little was left of her shirt, other than a scrap of cloth that fell on her generous breast to barely hide her nipples. Her skirt was completely gone and her lower half only had her boots and a small thong to cover her private parts.  
Shirou went red in the face and he averted his gaze immediately.

That's was when Saeko unexpectedly tackled him to the ground, pinning him down with her weigth and promptly stabbing her sword on the ground beside his face.

"You," she nearly growled. "Why did you come?"

Shirou was surprised by her question, but replied without missing a beat.

"I told you I would save you."

She stared at him for a very long moment, seemingly looking for words that escaped her.

"I am not the good person you believe I am, Shirou. I cannot live without doing others harm. I am a wicked woman that this world could do without. A monster that only looks like a human."

Shirou was perplexed. Sure enough, his sensei wasn't a simple person and by her own admission, she had sent several kendoka running, but so what? Did she ever harm someone who didn't wield a sword against her?

Shirou didn't like violence and he'd rather that people didn't fight, but... he never wished for something like a world without conflict. The only thing he wanted was for the people in front of him not to cry.

"Even if you truly couldn't live without causing harm, sensei, you still wouldn't be a monster. A monster would never feel sorry about the pain it brings; certainly it would never believe it reason enough to die. This desperation you're feeling it's proof that you are human like everybody else."

He wasn't quite sure were those words came from. They rolled off his tongue almost naturally. A combination of INT, WIS and CHR, perhaps? He didn't know, but it seemed like it had an effect.

* * *

Something in Saeko's chest loosened. With each of his words a tight knot in her heart begun to unravel and with it, the burden that weighed on her soul finally fell in the form of watery drops from her eyes.

Her tears fell on his face, but he did not seem to mind. He just looked at her with those gold eyes that saw right into her soul and told him the words she needed to hear.

She was a human being, after all. A deeply flawed creature, more so than others, but not a monster. As long as he believed that, she could do the same.

"I'll have you take responsibility for those words, you know?"

He nodded. Of course, he wasn't the kind of man to run from the consequences of his actions.

She stood up and reached out to him, pulling him up with her. He promptly blushed and looked away. Why was he suddenly acting so shy around her?

he looked down and finally realized that there wasn't much left of her clothing.

She felt her own face flare up in embarrassment, but an amused smile found its way on her face all the same.

"Well then, Shirou. Let's go back to my place and get ourselves cleaned up," she said nonchalantly, turning around and walking in the direction of her house, pretending not to care that her bottom was nearly completely exposed.

Perhaps she was not a monster, but she was still a very, very wicked woman.

* * *

Shirou followed after Saeko doing his utmost best to look anywhere but at her and failing several times. He wasn't quite sure what this feeling swelling up in his lower abdomen was and it wasn't altogether unpleasant, but he felt the urge to do something and he didn't know what. However, removing his gaze from Saeko's butt was the most difficult thing he had ever done in his life and he had been mauling his own nerves for years.

At some point, he just gave up trying and kept looking, feeling his mouth begin to salivate.

 _'Am I turning into a Dead Apostle?'_ he wondered.

No, Dead Apostles craved only for blood as far as he knew. Human flesh didn't attract their attention and he had this strange need to squeeze the curves of her ass between his fingers. It looked so soft and firm at the same time that he had to restrain himself from doing something that would certainly be inappropriate.

He just followed the hypnotic sway of her hips, savoring how her heels seemed to extend her already long legs even further.

Fortunately, before he could do something he would probably regret, they arrived at her home and he finally managed to steer his eyes elsewhere.

"Come on, Shirou. Take a bath first," she urged him.

"Are you sure, sensei? This is your home and you have been fighting longer than I did."

"It's okay. I would be a very poor host if I let my guests wait."

"Alright then," he agreed. There was no point in arguing about something so trivial.

In the bathroom antechamber, he quickly disrobed and started clearing his body from the accumulated sweat and dirt from the battle, in preparation of stepping into the bathtub.

He was just starting to relax, when he realized that he hadn't seen the message for having completed Saeko's Quest. He was wondering what he could have forgotten, when the door suddenly slid open and a towel-clad Saeko stepped inside.

* * *

Shirou had gone inside the bathroom a few minutes earlier and Saeko was still standing in front of the door, weighing her options.

There was something she wanted to do, a desire born of both her body and her heart. It was wrong, she knew, no matter how she looked at it. Society would not approve of it and yet she could not find it in herself to care.

She was a wicked woman and she had come to accept it.

He had told her that it was fine, that he accepted her for it. He had told her to live when she had wanted to die.

In return, she had told him she'd have him take responsibility for it.

The decision was already made.

She stepped into the antechamber and removed the tattered remains of her clothes. She had clearly felt his eyes on her back all the way there and judging from his reactions he was interested in what he saw, whether he understood it or not.

She stood naked and examined herself. She had never given much importance to how her body looked, although she was aware that many found her attractive. Until today, she didn't care about it.

Now, she felt very self-conscious. She was relatively sure that Shirou liked her, but how much of it was actually being attracted to her and how much of it was a lack of experience?

She almost laughed at herself. Here she was, a proud warrior who had been facing horrors every night of her life, worrying that the ten-year old she was in love with did not find her truly attractive.

He had accepted her already, there was nothing left to fear.

Putting on a towel, more out of habit than anything else, she stepped inside.

* * *

"S-s-sensei?" he yelped, scampering to cover himself. "I'm not done yet."

"I know," she said with a tone laced with an emotion he could not discern. "I thought I could help you wash your back."

"T-there's really no need. I can take care of it just fine. if you'd just wait outside a couple of minutes I'll finish up."

She just kept smiling. "There is no need to be shy, Shirou. Let me take care of it."

Her voice held a tone of finality that told him she would not relent. He was so embarrassed that he considered, briefly, to run the hell out when he recalled that the Quest was still ongoing and that the price for failure was her death.

He forced himself to remain seated on the stool and turned his back to her.

"Well... if you really insist," he conceded. It is to be noted that Shirou wasn't afraid of her; rather, he was afraid of the emotions he was feeling. He was afraid to hurt her in any way.

"Good," she acknowledged and promptly kneeled behind him, grabbing soap and sponge and immediately starting to wash his back.

His heart was beating so fast that he could actually hear it and his face was so red that he could probably light up a room at night.

Saeko kept scrubbing his back delicately, and Shirou would admit that embarrassment aside it was a fairly pleasant feeling. He was finally starting to relax again, when he felt the sponge leave his back and two other softness were pressed against him.

"S-s-s-s-sensei?"

"Hmm? What's wrong, Shirou?"

"I- You- Yours-!" he stuttered.

"My what?" she asked softly exhaling in his ear.

"Yyyy-your b-b-breasts..."

"What about them? Aren't they soft enough?"

"T-that's not the point!" he squeaked, feeling blood flowing down his body followed by a swelling sensation between his legs.

"Then what is the point? You don't like them?"

"N-no! Yes! I don't... this isn't about me liking them."

"Then, please, tell me what this is about, because I quite like where they are right now. Unless you'd rather hold them, Shirou. I wouldn't mind that either."

By now, steam was threatening to come out of Shirou's ears. He didn't know what was going on anymore, or rather the thing he thought was going on didn't quite make sense.

"Do you hate me, Shirou?" she asked, and he could feel the barely concealed fear in her voice.

"No, never," he replied, voice free from uncertainty. "I could never hate you, sensei."

"Saeko," she whispered, "please, call me Saeko."

He nodded and gulped heavily. "Alright, Saeko."

"Good. Now, don't worry about a thing and let me take care of you."

With her breasts still pressed on his back, she started to wash the front as well. Shirou didn't stop her, afraid of the consequences of pushing her away, but also fearing that she'd find the thing he was desperately trying to conceal between his legs.

It wasn't that he didn't understand the situation or his own body's reaction. He had studied and read enough about human biology to know what was happening down there. It was only that his knowledge theretofore was purely academic, and he didn't know how he was supposed to behave.

More importantly, he didn't understand why Saeko was behaving like that with him. Was that because of his charisma? Yes, of course, but he already knew that it didn't force people to do things they didn't want.

Which meant that Saeko was doing this with him because she wanted to. He didn't know what to think about it. Frankly she was so very beautiful and he didn't care that she was way older than him. Also, he wasn't in any condition to ponder about society's norms too much.

Even though Shirou was a sticker for propriety, his issue wasn't with age difference or social acceptance. What he worried about was treating her right, and he had no clue how to do that.

He was troubled with the same doubt that had gripped the hearts of many young men for centuries. He was afraid of not being good enough.

Slowly, Saeko's hand descended further down his body. Shirou dreaded and anticipated in equal measure the moment it reached its intended destination. Slowly, entirely out of instinct he opened his legs just enough for her hand to find its way through and yelped when it wrapped itself around his young shaft.

"Hmm," he moaned at the intense sensation, pushing his back further against her.

"Shirou," she called out, voice once again laced with fear. "Do you understand what's going on?"

He nodded, not trusting his own voice.

"Do you want me to stop?"

He shook his head after only a moment of hesitation.

"W-why me?" he asked with some difficulty. Of all the things he could have said, it didn't seem like she had expected that.

"Because I like you," she admitted and Shirou found himself relaxing. He was afraid that it was some twisted form of gratitude for helping her. He could not have accepted that.

Taking his relaxing as her cue to continue, Saeko started to stroke him.

"Ah! Hm!" Shirou squirmed. He didn't know what to do with himself. With her being behind him he was in no position to return the favor in any shape or form. In the meantime, she kept stroking him, slowly and delicately at first but soon increasing the speed of her ministration.

Shirou found himself pushing his hips forward, sitting on the very edge of the stool, giving Saeko full access to his manhood. In an attempt to steady himself he wrapped his arms behind her neck, the only place he could reasonably reach.

The pleasure kept getting more and more intense, so much that Shirou had unwittingly started bucking his hips forward.

"Ah! AH! Sensei! Sensei!" he called out, accidentally reverting to her title. "Something... something's coming, Sensei."

"Yes," she purred, "Yes, come for your sensei."

"Aaah!" Shirou shouted, bucking his hips forward one last time. A thin spray of white semen erupted from his cock, splattering on the floor and onto Saeko's fingers. Then he finally slumped back on the stool, breathing heavily.

 **[As a result of a special action, you have learned Sexual Interaction]**  
 **[SEXUAL INTERACTION- Lv.1] The ability to pleasure yourself and others sexually. You are new at this and not good at all. It will take a lot of time to make your partner(s) reach their climax. Each orgasm you reach costs you 50 ST.**

 _'Well,'_ Shirou thought numbly, _'I should have seen that coming.'_

* * *

Saeko was absolutely ecstatic. It had taken a whole lot of courage to initiate the contact, but she had grown bolder and bolder with each passing minute. Shirou's awareness and acceptance of the act had made it much simpler, but even then Saeko had not expected the absolute thrill of it.

Shirou's embarrassment, his reluctance and finally his pleasure-struck expression were absolutely delicious and it had only taken her hand to achieve it.

The power she wielded over him just from a simple touch had ignited a fire without precedents between her legs. She wanted more of it, more of him.

"Shirou," she purred. "That was very naughty of you, having fun all on your own."

Shirou nearly jumped turning his head so that he could look at her. "I- I'm sorry?"

"Hmm," she said, putting a finger to her lips. "Sorry won't do, I'm afraid. I'll have to punish you thoroughly."

She grabbed his still erect dick once again and resumed stroking it. Shirou was more relaxed this time and soon, she could tell, he was about to reach yet another orgasm. That was when Saeko decided she would be having her own fun.

When she thought he was right on the edge, she stopped. Shirou bucked his hips but found no friction to please himself with.

"Ah? Sensei?"

"What is it, Shirou? Do you need something?"

"N-no," he shook his head. Saeko immediately grabbed his dick and resumed stroking. When he was about to come she once again let of him.

"Hhhm!" he moaned pitifully.

"What's wrong, Shirou?"

"I.. almost..."

"Almost what? Almost came on your own again, you naughty boy?" she smiled predatorily, stroking his cock ever so slowly. "Didn't I just say that's not a very nice thing to do? If you want me to make you come, you have to ask politely."

"P-please."

"Please what, my naughty little pupil?" she teased.

"Please. Please, let me come. Please, Sensei, let me come," he said almost desperately.

She jerked his cock one last time and Shirou gasped, throwing his head backward and furiously bucking his hips forward. Even more semen shot out this time, splattering against the opposite wall.

Saeko shivered. Her pussy was a wet, sloppy mess and her nipples were hard as rock without so much as touching herself.

She was a wicked, filthy-hearted woman and for the first time in her entire life she was perfectly fine with it. So long as Shirou accepted her for it, she could live with herself.

There was no describing how intense her feelings for him were. How grateful she was that he had come in her life.

"Did you have fun, Shirou?" she asked coyly.

"Y-yeah," he admitted shyly, not looking at her. He was absolutely adorable.

"Good, because I think it's my turn now."

"What should I do?" he quickly asked, all hesitation gone.

"Will you do anything I ask?"

He nodded quickly.

"Well then," she said, pulling away from him. She was so embarrassed for what she was about to do that her head was spinning, but she really, really wanted for him to do that.

Shirou turned, just as she laid down on her elbows on the bathroom floor. She saw him swallow heavily at the sight of her naked fullness and his eyes nearly popped out of his head when she slowly spread her legs, exposing her most precious place. She always kept clean shaven down there, a peeves of her about cleanliness, therefore her pink womanhood was perfectly visible.

"Put your mouth there, Shirou."

He nodded, unable to move his eyes away from it. Slowly he inched forward, joining her on the floor. He did not hesitate in the slightest in putting his mouth of her nether lips.

Saeko gasped loudly at the unexpected shot of pleasure, even more so when Shirou licked her moist womanhood without needing any instruction. He wasn't particularly good at it, she thought in her own inexperience, but seeing him lapping her so obediently in addition to being extremely worked up from their previous interactions, it didn't take long for her to reach her own climax.

She grabbed his head with both hands, pushing him further down. Shirou took it as a signal and pushed his small tongue into her snatch.  
"Ah! AAAAAHHH!" she shouted, wrapping her legs around his shoulders and bucking her hips out of instinct. Her nectar dripped out in copious rivulets and Shirou lapped them dutifully and then kept on licking.

She was still so very sensitive and he was so passionate, that she immediately felt another orgasm approaching. She did not have time to tell him to stop that her body convulsed again, drenching Shirou's face with more of her juices.

"That," she breathed out as she tugged gently at his hair to make him pull back, "was quite well done."

"T-thanks," he replied bashfully.

"Two for two. That should make us even, right?"

"I guess," he nodded.

"I think something is missing, though."

"Like what?"

"Hmm," she pondered for a moment and the pulled him toward her until their lips met. Of all the things she could have thought, Saeko never imagined that her first kiss would be with a ten-year-old and would taste of her own arousal.

As she slipped her tongue between his lips and felt his manhood throb against her abdomen, Saeko couldn't bring herself to mind.

Their tongues wrestled together for a while. She enjoyed the way he moaned cutely, while the tried his best to stop himself from thrusting his hips against her abdomen and getting off just from that.

Finally, when breathing had become an issue, they broke apart. She stared into his gold eyes for a moment and then she rolled both of them until their position on the floor were reversed and she was straddling him.

His young cock was pinned right against her labia and she could feel his heartbeat through it. Shirou wore an expression of expectation mixed to surprise. Saeko grinned and grinded her hips against him, relishing in his cute gasps as well at the friction with his member.

Oh, she could torment him like this forever. He was completely under her control.

"Ah! Sensei! I'm almost..."

"Oh, that won't do," she said, immediately stopping her movements. "You know what you have to do, right?"

"But..."

"Say it properly," she told him flatly, jerking her hips ever so slightly.

"Please, let me cum, Sensei. Please let me cum!"

"That's a good boy," she smiled and pushed her weight onto him, grinding back and forth, until he ejaculated, splattering semen on both her legs and his abdomen.

Shirou laid there, breathing raggedly while Saeko's cheeks were red from excitement and exertion. Then she noticed his dick, still throbbing against her womanhood and her grin returned.

"Still like this?" she asked. Shirou looked at her and then immediately turned his gaze in shame. "Whatever shall I do with you, my naughty pupil? Should I just keep on punishing you?"

He squirmed, but said nothing in either case. Of course Saeko would have nothing of it. She resumed grinding her hips against him, stopping whenever she thought he was about to reach an orgasm.

"Well Shirou? Should your sensei keep punishing you for being so naughty all the time?"

"Please. Just let me come."

"No, no. You have to answer properly," she insisted, pulling her hair up with her hands and looking down at him with a smoldering gaze. "Do you want me to punish you?"

"Yes! Yes! Punish me! Punish me more!"

Saeko couldn't take it anymore. Right, wrong, she did not care. She lifted her weight, knowing that Shirou's freed cock would stand right up, and then lowered herself again. With just the tiniest bit of guidance he slid inside her quivering womanhood effortlessly.

There was a tearing pain inside her and she knew that her virginity was gone. She did not care. There was no one else she would have rather given it to, and even in spite of the pain, she felt happier than she had been in many years.

She lifted her hips and then pushed them down again and again and again and again, breasts bouncing in rhythm, until she felt his release shooting inside her, painting both her womb and mind with a searing hot whiteness. The last remnants of her fears and desperation melted completely.  
For a brief, flickering moment she worried about pregnancy, but decided that if it happened, she would wouldn't mind being the mother to his children. She also had a duty to her clan to see their bloodline continued, after all.

Finally exhausted, both physically and emotionally, she slumped down on him.

* * *

 **[Quest: A Maiden's heart COMPLETED]**  
 **[Reward: 12.000 EXP, Relationship Upgraded to: Lovers, +10 CHR for completing a Romance]**  
 **[You gained a level]**  
 **[Warning! Your Stamina has dropped below 0]**  
 **[Altered Status: EXHAUSTED. STR and DEX are halved for 24hrs]**

Shirou had just come down from his latest climax and he had other things in mind other than worrying about Quest Prompts, although he was relieved that Saeko was finally safe.

He hadn't expected things to escalate so quickly between them and in fact he wasn't quite sure what to think of it. Saeko had alternated between being shy and almost fearful to being bold and domineering.

Well, he didn't really mind as long as she was fine. He could see now why people were so interested in sex.

"Sensei. Saeko. We really should finish what we came here for."

Saeko snorted and chuckled. "I thought we already had."

"I mean cleaning up."

"Oh," she blinked. "Right."

This time, it was Shirou's turn to laugh.

They eventually finished cleaning themselves, sharing the bathtub without awkwardness. He got to wash Saeko's hair, marveling at its silk-like smoothness, and she returned the favor eagerly.

It was almost like they were brother and sister. Almost.

Then Saeko finally asked him what Shirou had expected for a while now.

"Who are you, really? Your improbable constitution aside, you were not surprised by any stretch of the imagination about what you saw tonight. You are familiar with the supernatural, are you not?"

"My foster father was a Magus," he told her simply.

"I see," she replied. "Is that why you are so adept with the sword? Magecraft?"

"No," he laughed. The very notion. "I'm not really good at that. It's because my Origin and Element are both Sword," as well as the Gamer Eyes and Body, but there was no need to talk about it.

"... a living blade," she eventually said, a undertone of amazement in her voice.

"Yeah, I suppose I could be called that," he agreed.

Having said that, the topic was abandoned and eventually they left bathroom. Shirou had no change of clothes, having ditched his backpack in the forest the previous night, so Saeko lent him one of her white yukata, which looked comically large on his small frame.

It was late morning when they stepped into the living room and shared a meal in silent companionship.

Eventually, Saeko yawned.  
"Tired?" he asked, "You haven't slept at all yesterday. Maybe you should go to bed."

"And how do you know that I didn't sleep yesterday evening before leaving the house?" she asked with a quirked eyebrow. They hadn't discussed the details of his arrival yet.

"I... uuh... have been keeping an eye on you almost the entire time?" he reluctantly admitted.

"You were here all along, even though I had forced you to leave, watching over me?"

"I kind of lost you in the forest for a while, but yeah," he scratched his head.

Saeko expression was inscrutable as she stared at him. After a moment she stood from her side of the table, walked all the way around it where he sat and took a seat beside him.

Then she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a searing kiss.

Shirou squirmed in her embrace for a while, but when he felt her tongue slip past his lips once more, he just thought _'Ah, what the hell,'_ and threw his arms around her neck, returning the kiss.

There were worse things in the world than being the object of the twisted affection of a beautiful woman.

Eventually they both went to sleep together but they did nothing else, being far too tired for any amounts of fooling around. They woke up in the early evening. Shirou washed clothes had already dried up in afternoon sun but they were ripped in many places due to his mad run among the trees. Saeko took it upon herself to mend them for him, despite Shirou insistence that he could take care of it himself.

Finally, it came time for him to return home for good.

"Are you going to be alright, Saeko?" he asked one last time before leaving.

"If I said I won't, would you stay here and watch over me again?" she asked good-naturedly.

"Yes," was his succinct reply and she sighed.

"You are making it very difficult for me to let you go, Shirou," she grabbed his face and bent over to give him one last, chaste kiss. "I'll be fine, don't worry. _They_ don't stand a chance against me when I'm at my best. Trust me, I've been dealing with them since I was twelve."

"If you say so," he nodded. "But next I'm going to join you during the full moon."

"Well, I suppose that's fine, considering that's the whole point of passing on the Busujima style."

He nodded and bade her goodbye.

On his way back to civilization, he pondered how things had turned out to be. He certainly hadn't expected things between him and Saeko to escalate sexually, but, well, he didn't mind much being punished by her.

In addition, he had also found a place where he could fight and earn XP quickly. Finally, his path toward becoming a true hero was starting to become clear.

Clenching his fist, he smiled broadly. Things were looking up for him.

* * *

AN: Man, writing this chapter was tough! It's difficult to write a character that's not a wimp but that's sexually submissive with women. I hope to have struck a decent balance here.

Things are going to get messy for Shirou, now that his total CHR is 77. Poor Taiga is going to have a very difficult time around him from now onward.


	7. 0007

**.**

 **[EMIYA SHIROU]**

 **[THE GAMER]**

 **[LV 20- 100/20000]**

 **[HP: 2000][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 760 ][PT: 5]**

 **[STR: 37][DEX: 39][INT: 21][WIS: 31][CHR: 77]**

Taiga made her way to the Emiya household as she did just about every morning. Shirou had been away all weekend so she didn't get to eat over at his place. In her book, that was unforgivable. Granted, he might have been a budding sword-prodigy but if there was one thing that Taiga respected more than that was his skill at the stove. The boy could cook better than the average housewife and certainly better than Taiga or anyone at her place could.

It was perfectly fine if he wanted to polish his ability with the sword, but that didn't mean she had to go hungry. Today she would have him prepare all of her favorite dishes as apology.

She let herself in without bothering to knock. As his legal guardian it was her duty to come over unannounced and watch that he wouldn't be up to mischief. Not that she worried about something like that. Shirou was more responsible than she had ever been and for all her faults, Taiga did take her responsibilities very seriously despite of her lackadaisical attitude.

But still, as his de-facto big sister, it was her duty to swoop in when he'd least expected her, hoping to catch him in an embarrassing situation that she could use exploit to blackmail even more food out of him.

A responsible adult, ladies and gentlemen.

Of course, being early in the morning, he was probably working out in the dojo, so she made her way there with light footsteps.

However once there, she found a person she didn't know instead of her charge. A redhead stranger was holding one of Shirou's wooden swords and was going through some elaborate motions with exceptional fluidity.

There was an intensity about the way he performed the kata that was almost hypnotic. Taiga could not stop staring in sheer admiration. This could no longer be called swordsmanship. It was an art form.

Who was this guy? There was something striking familiar about it but she couldn't quite place him. Then it suddenly clicked in her mind and she called out.

"Shirou?"

He stopped in his tracks. As he turned around, her heart was caught in her throat. Eyes of a stunning gold pierced through her and she stood rooted on the spot.

"Taiga? You're early. Sorry, but breakfast isn't going to be ready for a while. ... Taiga, are you alright?"

"Wha-? Oh, yes. Yes, I'm perfectly fine. Ah-hahaha," she laughed awkwardly. How could she have mistaken Shirou of all people for someone else? "Anyway, Shirou, did you do something with your hair?"

"What? No."

"Hmm. There is something different about you. Have you grown taller maybe?"

"I don't think I could have grown any noticeable amount in a couple of days," he deadpanned. "What brought this up?"

"Nothing. You just look different somehow. Must be my imagination."

"Probably. God knows you do have wild one."

"I didn't raise you to be this cheeky, Shirou," she stomped her feet.

"I could argue that you didn't raise me at all, but we have already agreed on your imagination being out of control, so why bother?"

"Mooou! Shirou! Is that how you treat your big sis after you went off gallivanting for two whole days? This is a penalty! Penalty!"

"I get it. I get it," he sighed in obvious resignation. "Double serving of your favorite dishes today."

"Yes!" Taiga cheered. "My master plan was a success."

"Congratulations," Shirou replied with evident sarcasm. "Now go sit in the living room while I take a bath. Then we'll see about feeding the tiger before it goes feral."

"DON'T CALL ME A TIGER!" she roared, but of course that did not help her case at all.

Shirou just laughed and went about getting himself clean.

[br]

While Shirou was in the bathroom, Taiga sat in the living room as instructed, pondering about the recent developments.

Something had to have happened with Shirou, but she didn't know what. He was different somehow, although there was nothing different about him on the outside.

She had known him for years now and she had watched him grow. From the beginning he was outstanding among his age group, but after Kiritsugu's death it was like he had started running at full speed toward adulthood and she wasn't referring to his physical growth, although he seemed to fare quite well in that department as well.

She was thinking of his demeanor. Everything about him was not as a boy of ten year should be, from the way he moved and how he carried himself to the way he talked.

He oozed some kind of quiet confidence and when he spoke his voice was smooth and velvet-soft in spite of still being obviously childish. She had watched him closely and even when he did something as mundane as walking it was like he was gliding.

Taiga had some old friends who did ballet, and none of them had as much grace after years of training as Shirou exhibited with every single action.

It was like someone had taken some warrior-king from an old legend and squeezed him into the body of a ten years old boy.

In any event, something had to have happened to him, because if it hadn't, if it was just another of her flight of fancy, then it would mean that this growing attraction she harbored for him was because she was some kind of deviant.

No... whether or not Shirou was different didn't change the fact that she had these kind of twisted feelings for him in the first place. Of course she would never act upon them, but they were still present.

What was she supposed to do with them?

[br]

Shirou sat into the bathtub, soaking in the pleasantly hot water, while his mind wandered.

He had only barely grown used to his Gamer ability and already he had experienced something that he never even thought of before.

He was thinking, of course, about his first sexual experience. To be honest, until that night Shirou hadn't even entertained the thought of being intimate with a woman, simply because he had yet to reach that age at which such thoughts would come forth spontaneously.

However, now that he had a taste of the forbidden fruit, every time that he wasn't engaged in a mentally challenging activity he would inevitably return to those moments with his mind.

It was annoying because he no longer needed focusing to perform any complex task. Anything that was within within his already established [Skills] required only to consume the necessary attribute (if there were any) to be performed successfully, unless they came with a probability of failure in which case focus increased his chances to be successful. As of that moment only the act of making [Never Circuits] in combat fell into that category.

In short, he had been thinking about sex ever since, with obvious effects on his anatomy.

How was he supposed to deal with something like this?

Unfortunately, Shirou had yet to be introduced to one of the most basic survival skills for any healthy young male: masturbation. Having skipped straight to third base, he had completely missed the progressive exploration of his own sexuality and he was therefore lost as to how to behave in regard.

He didn't dare look it up in a book somewhere, least he caused eyebrows to be raised and consequently drawing attention to his unorthodox lifestyle. He didn't even have any adult figure to ask for information and Taiga most certainly did not qualify as one. It didn't cross his mind to check the web for informations either. Shirou wasn't as bad with modern technology as other Magi were, but he never developed much interest in that specific branch of it either.

In short, he was stuck suffering with a near-permanent hard on. Fortunately his preference for slightly baggy clothes helped conceal his predicament and his mental fortitude helped him ignore the discomfort as well, but it was still a pain in the ass.

[br]

After trying to figure out the problem with Saeko, Shirou thought that going back to school would be a simple and straightforward endeavor. He was so very painful mistaken.

Everywhere he went, throngs of girls followed. Shirou harbored little illusion that it wasn't because of his high [CHR], but what was he supposed to do about it? As far as he knew, it was mandatory to have high charisma in order to unlock the most complex [Quests], since he suffered a penalty because of his young age. Charisma was willpower mixed with the outward projection of a positive self-image, which made him appear reliable and attractive.

How people decided to react to that was entirely up to them. In the case of girls his age, that meant stolen glances and relentless whispering. He was also fairly sure that the only reason why no one tried to make a move on him yet was that they would be ostracized by the rest of them.

Girls were scary, no doubt about that. Ultimately, it was something he could put up with, so he didn't bother doing anything about it.

Eventually, it came again the day for Shirou to go over at the dojo for his usual training. He still had to break through the Master level in the Busujima-style, after which he could just come over once a month during the full moon to fight undead and make experience faster than with repeatable [Quests]. Not that he had stopped doing those. Helping people was his life mission after all. Rewards weren't necessary.

He found her already waiting in her dojo, wearing her usual school uniform

"Hello, Shirou," she greeted with a smile. Her voice was warm and her face devoid of the tension he had come to associate with her as of late.

"Thank you for having me again, sensei."

Saeko snorted softly. "Still polite as ever, aren't you? Nevermind, I like that side of you."

"Uhm... thank you?" he fidgeted, blushing lightly and she chuckled in response.

"Honestly, Shirou, if you don't stop being this cute I'll have to skip training and eat you up right away."

"Err... what?"

"Hm?" she tilted her head to the side. "What? Did you perhaps think it was a one-time thing? Tch, tch, tch, Shirou. After you said that it was fine for me to be the way I am, I told you I would have you take responsibility for it. You better take good care of me from now on."

Shirou looked taken aback, but then his face morphed into one of utter resolve.

"Yeah. You can count on me."

Saeko sighed. "What did I just say about being too cute, Shirou?"

"Huuuh... I'm sorry?"

She shook her head.

"Honestly, it seems like words just won't cut it with you. Lesson number one, Shirou. With me, things such as apologies are useless. Now, it seems that you owe me a good fight and after we are done with that, I'll see to your proper punishment."

Shirou swallowed loudly, but nodded all the same. He wasn't quite sure what he dreaded more, the fight or the punishment. He knew, however, which one he was looking forward to the most.

[br]

After he was done with his training session (read: fending off against a Saeko no-hold-barred), they moved to her home, where she proceeded to take a bath first.

Shirou was torn between elation and disappointment when she didn't invite him to join her. The latter was further reinforced when she stepped out wearing with her white yukata which clung to her gorgeous wet body like a second skin. She seemed very smug about the way he ate her with his eyes, but only motioned for him to have a turn in the bath himself and moved right along.

Shirou bathed expecting her to come in at any minute, like the last time, but there was no trace of her.

A bit sour and a bit guilty over his misplaced expectations, he dried himself and left the bathroom.

"Sensei?" There was no answer. "... Saeko?" the tried.

"Over here, Shirou," her voice called from the end of the corridor. That where her room was. He made his way over there and knocked before letting himself in.

Still wearing the white yukata, Saeko was sitting seiza in the middle of the room, with a small book in her lap. She motioned for him to come closer and he did so by sitting in a similar fashion in front of her. This close flowery scent of her skin was highly intoxication.

"So…," he started.

"So, for your punishment, Shirou," she said closing the book with a soft thump, "I was thinking of making you give me a massage."

"... a massage?" he asked after a second, not sure of having heard right. Was something like a massage even a punishment? "I don't have any experience with that."

"It's okay. I'm sure you will learn fast."

"Well, if you are okay with that, sure," he agreed.

"Great!" she smiled and promptly unfastened the belt of her yukata, smoothly sliding it off her shoulders and thus baring her bountiful breasts in the process. She barely gave the flabbergasted boy a chance to look at them that she turned her body around to lay on her stomach with purposeful slowness so to give him a perfect view of her ass and legs, as well as the core of her womanhood.

Shirou was utterly dumbstruck but his young member had stood up at attention right away, twitching expectantly.

"Well?" she purred. "We don't have much time."

"A-alright," he managed to stutter. "Where do I start?"

"Hmm. Start with the shoulders and work your way down… slowly."

He nodded and took a seat at her side, kneading her shoulder with his small hands. The last time they had been naked together, Shirou hadn't had the chance to have a good look at her whole body, but now he had a perfect view of her entire rear.

Her back was slender as expected, with a hint of toned muscles underneath porcelain skin. It narrowed down as it approached her waist, only for it to broaden once again as her curves gave shape to her feminine hips and her glorious bottom.

The desire to touch her there was overwhelming and only through sheer mental fortitude he managed to keep up with the task. Of course, his dick was rock hard and twitched as if to express disapproval with his lack of appropriate action. He tried to kept it hidden but the tent in his lap was unmistakable.

As he rubbed her skin, Saeko hummed in approval and she continued doing so until Shirou stopped at her waist.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I've -uh- finished?"

"Hmm. I don't think so. Keep going further down."

"B-but…"

"Now, Shirou."

He gulped and nodded, moving his hands to knead the flesh of her toned ass. His finger squeezed the flesh of her buttocks, softly at first and then progressively harder as his desire grew.

Unseen by him as he was entirely focused on that part of her anatomy, Saeko bit her lip and suppressed a moan. Shirou was moving his hands in a circle, spreading her lower cheeks open and close, over and over again. She could feel herself getting wet between the legs but she wanted to torment him a bit further.

"How about you change position? Straddle my legs and keep going as you were."

"I'm not sure I can…"

"Shirou, Shirou, Shirou," she chided. "This is your punishment, remember? Do as you are told. Do remove your clothes as well. It's not fair that I'm the only one unclothed here."

He nodded and removed his yukata as well. His face was completely red as his erection was now completely exposed, but Saeko didn't comment. She just smiled and licked her lips.

Shirou sat on her thighs, straddling her legs and returning to his previous activity. His mouth was dry like the desert. From this angle he could see every inch of her most private places and they were absolutely lovely.

Her pussy was moist with arousal, although Shirou didn't know whether it was because of his massage, from ordering him around or both.

"Alright, that will be enough of that," she said after a moment. "Work your way up again."

A bit disappointed, Shirou dutifully obeyed, shifting his ministration upward. Eventually, as his body was shorter than hers, he had to move forward with his entire body. "Alright, focus on that spot," she said at one point. Again, Shirou obeyed and only a moment later he realized that the tip of his cock was now pushing against her butt.

"What is it? Why did you stop?"

"N-nothing," he stuttered as he resumed rubbing her shoulders. Now, every time he pushed his hands against her back his dick would also rub against the smooth skin of her ass creating a delicious friction.

Despite having a self-control that belied his age, it didn't take long before instinct prevailed and his hips gave a sharp thrust forward.

He and Saeko held back a moan, both pretending nothing had happened. The former out of shame and embarrassment, the latter because she wanted to lure him further. Shirou kept massaging her back, but now his dick was laying perfectly on the crack of her butt and every motion of his upper body caused him to rub his length against her smooth skin.

Eventually, almost without noticing, the movement of his hands slowed down and that of his hips picked up.

Saeko bit her lip, clutching the futon with her hands. She hadn't planned the entire event. She only decided to embarrass and dominate him a little, knowing that in spite of what had already transpired between them, he would not go an inch further that she allowed him. This was the power her beauty had on him. Enough to make him lose control to the point that he would use her ass to please himself.

She would have punished him for this transgression if she hadn't been so busy contemplating how he made her feel. Dirty and beautiful all at once. Indeed this was why she loved him, because he could let her relish in her own depravity without ever being anything less than splendid in his eyes.

Or perhaps she was simply mad for laying with a child-man as he was, but if that was how madness felt she could understand why some people were so happy to embrace it.

These contemplations were interrupted by Shirou's soft gasp. Both of them had failed to predict the obvious results of letting the situation run its course to its natural conclusion, but Shirou could see them clearly now, white on pink across his teacher's back, just as she could feel them, wet and searing hot against her skin.

She turned to look at him, eyes fluttering and cheeks red in drunken lust.

"I'm sorry Sensei. I didn't mean to-"

"Shirou," she said with voice that was both firm and sultry. "I see that you have a hunger for punishment, haven't you?"

"I... yes, Sensei."

There was no eagerness in his voice, no matter what anyone would say.

[br]

Shirou nearly missed the last bus home as they lost the track of time, busy as they were doling out and receiving punishment. Shirou felt a little bit ashamed of himself. He usually stood up for himself but when it came to Saeko, he was basically putty in her hands.

Through the course of their love-making, his [Sexual Interaction] skill had reached level 4, which made him last somewhat longer and led to Saeko taking more time to punish him to her heart's content, which caused him to nearly missing his ride back home.

Shirou was mildly sure that he wouldn't have survived spending the night at Saeko's place and not because of the restless ghosts that haunted the mountain.

Still, he thought that if he'd have to die one day, he wouldn't mind if it was because of something like that.

On the trip back to Fuyuki, he did his best not to indulge in thoughts of Saeko's luscious form, but it took an intense effort on his part.

Eventually, when the bus dropped him at the outskirt of the city, it was too late for any other ride to commute to the residential district where he lived, on the other side of town. He decided to walk, seeing as how he needed little to sleep with his Gamer Body.

The night over Fuyuki was cool and pleasant and as he made his way home, fewer people and cars could be seen passing by.

Eventually, he reached the riverside park and from there the stairs that climbed the bridge over the river.

The walkway was almost completely empty even during the day and it was a pretty desolate place all around. Hanging a dozen meters below the street level, the infrequent cars failed to cast any light over it. Only the waxing moon provided any amount of light and even with that Shirou almost didn't see the figure ahead of him.

That is, if he couldn't see the name floating above its form clear as a day.

 **[Yoruichi Shihōin]**  
 **[Lv. ?]**

Someone whose level was much higher than his own had appeared. That alone wouldn't trouble Shirou overly much, if not for the fact that it wasn't a human, but rather a cat.

A black cat, to be more precise. It was lying on on the ground, blood dripping from a gash on its side.

Putting away any reservation about this creature disproportionate power, Shrou stepped forward and kneeled by its side.

"What happened to you?" he murmured. He wasn't a forensic expert by any stretch of the imagination, but the wound was clearly a cut, done by a blade of some kind.

A wounded animal wouldn't be so nonchalant about being approached no matter how used to humans they were. If that wasn't enough, Shirou knew that this creature was something close to a human level of intelligence when their eyes met.

It had a calm, inquisitive gaze. It was screening him as if to judge his worth, while Shirou took out a spare shirt from his backpack and ripped it to create a makeshift bandage.

"I'm going to stop the bleeding," he explained. "Please bear with the pain."

The cat kept staring at him without fussing, while Shirou delicately wrapped the newly made bandages around its body. He had only about finished when he heard a muffled thump behind him.

A huge man stood some dozen meters away, face hidden under a hood, seemingly having appeared out of nowhere. His arms were exposed though, and they were each about the size of Shirou's torso.

 **[Wei Kang]  
** **[Lv. 30]**

Somehow, Shirou knew, this guy was trouble. He got further confirmation when he heard more thumps and looked the other way. From the bridge above, several figures jumped onto the walkway, landing gracefully, whereas an ordinary human would have broken several bones, if they were lucky.

Each and every one of them was at least level 20, all bearing the Wei family name.

So, here he was, on a narrow walkway suspended several dozen meter above a river, in the dead of night, with some wounded super-powered cat in his arms and surrounded by shady figures.

"Yoruichi Shihōin," the first man, Kang, said with obvious glee in his voice. "It is my fortune that I was the one to find you in this conditions. Bringing back your head will make me a very rich man."

"Brother, what about the kid?" another one asked. Shirou felt Kang's eyes shift from the cat in his arms to his face.

"Collateral damage," he said shortly. "Now bring her to me."

Shirou didn't like getting into a fight without knowing the circumstances, but since that guy said that a random kid on the street was just collateral damage without even being contrived about it, Shirou at least knew who the bad guy were.

He reached that conclusion in a split second, just as two of the Wei people dashed at him.

"Apologies," he said to the cat. "It's gonna get a bit bumpy."

He kicked the ground, where he had dropped his bokuto, next to his backpack. The wooden sword came flying up and he caught it in mid air. There was a brief flicker of surprise in the eyes of his assailant, but they did not slow down. That was a mistake.

Before they were on him, Shirou moved. He threw himself in the direction of one of them so that he could face them one at a time. His opponent wasn't expecting that kind of reaction, or that kind of speed, and he was caught entirely off-guard.

Shirou's bokuto came up from below in a sharp arc. Wood met chin with a loud crack and the man's head snapped backward.

 **[CRITICAL HIT]**  
 **[Wei Enforcer 1 (low tier) defeated - EXP gained: 500]**

He did not have time to contemplate his victory or the EXP gain. Instead he jumped on the railing, narrowly avoiding a downward punch from the other Wei Enforcer while he counteracted in the same fashion and hit the man right on the head.

 **[CRITICAL HIT]**  
 **[Wei Enforcer 2 (low tier) defeated - EXP gained: 500]**

Dumbfounded silence descended over the bridge. Even Shirou was at loss for words. His opponents were all at his nominal level, at the very least, but they went down way too easily.

' _I see. This is because I trained my physical STATS and sword skills separately from my actual level.'_

Indeed, most of Shirou's STATS were higher than normal for someone at level 20. He had relentlessly trained his body while his EXP stagnated for a long time. Moreover, he was using a sword, a weapon for which he had a great talent, while they came at him barehanded. Furthermore, he had learned the Busujima-style, which emphasized facing several opponents at the same time, even though he was using only one hand as the other still cradled the wounded cat.

"Careful, he's no ordinary kid," that Kang fellow bellowed.

"Yeah," Shirou agreed. "So what about you go back where you came from before more of you get hurt?"

"Kill him," he growled in response and the remaining Wei Enforcers jumped him.

"Worth a shot," Shirou grimaced. "No choice but doing this then."

He didn't have the upper hand. Not really. Unlike the vengeful spirits on top of the mountain, these people had coordination as a team. They were used to working as a group and they would no longer underestimate him, leaving themselves open for a counter.

Still, he wasn't just a swordsman.

" **Trace On,"** he declared and pain surged through his body in response. "Reinforcement!"

 **[Nerve Circuit creation: Success]**  
 **[Reinforcement: failure. HP: -200]**

He gritted his teeth, and persevered.

 **[Reinforcement: failure. HP: -200]**

 **[Reinforcement: Success!]**  
 **[STR x 1.5 , DEX x 1.5]**

And then, he moved. Following the already ingrained precepts of the Busujima-style, Shirou blurred into motion. Rather than counteracting, he opted to land one-kill shots before they could actually get on the offensive.

 **[CRITICAL HIT]**  
 **[Wei Enforcer 3 (low tier) defeated - EXP gained: 500]**

 **[CRITICAL HIT]**  
 **[Wei Enforcer 4 (low tier) defeated - EXP gained: 500]**

 **[CRITICAL HIT]**  
 **[Wei Enforcer 5 (low tier) defeated - EXP gained: 500]**

 **[CRITICAL HIT]**  
 **[Wei Enforcer 6 (low tier) defeated - EXP gained: 500]**

' _So many critical hits… is this the bonus from the [Hero Complex] title? It has to be.'_

In a flash, they were all lying on the floor, unconscious. Shirou had purposefully avoided hitting vital points. Still, they would probably be sore when they woke up.

All that was left now was…

Shirou's eyes widened. He felt the tremor on the floor just in time to rotate himself and put his bokuto between his body and the huge fist that was coming at him.

Even though he technically parried it, the difference in sheer mass sent Shirou flying backward several meters, where he skidded to a halt with his sword broken.

"Well, crap," he muttered, looking at his broken weapon. _'I should have reinforced the bokuto as well.'_

"Now, you die," Kang promised with a vicious smile.

Shirou threw away the hilt of the bokuto as he wracked his brain for a solution. He didn't have any escape-related skill. He could jump into the river beneath but he didn't know his odds of survival against the currents.

' _I need a weapon,'_ he thought as he looked around the bridge for anything that he could use in guise of a sword, but there wasn't anything at all and Kang was approaching fast.

Well, no choice but to risk it. "See ya," he saluted as he jumped over the railing.

"Wait! You little shiiiit!"

Kang's shout was drowned out as Shirou plunged toward the Fuyuki river. His reinforced body hit the water hard and disappeared under the surface.

Up above, Kang scanned the river but didn't seem them emerge. He let out an enraged shout in the empty night. Dead or alive, his prize had gotten away.

[br]

"Bwah!" Shirou gasped as he broke out of the water on the river bank. The current had been stronger than he had anticipated and the water was freezing cold, even though it was already springtime. Thank goodness his Gamer Body was tough and he wasn't really affected.

More importantly, he had learned the new skill [Swimming] simply by putting himself in the conditions for it to be necessary and leveled it through sheer stubbornness up to level 6 just by refusing to drown.

In any case, it had been a very close call but he still thought his odds had been better than facing that Kang fellow on the bridge without a weapon. He might have been able to cross the level gap because of his stacked bonuses and STATS, but not without a sword.

Furthermore, Shirou himself wasn't one to fight for the sake of fighting. Between two equally dangerous choices, he'd pick the one where less people would be hurt. That was just the way he was.

Sighing at the way the night had turned, Shirou looked at the shivering form in his arms. The cat, Yoruichi, was now completely unconscious. He needed to run home and put it somewhere warm. Then, maybe, he'd try to figure out what this whole mess was all about.

It took him nearly half an hour running at full speed to reach the gate of his home. There, he immediately grabbed a towel and gently wrapped the cat in it. Once the creature was settled he disrobed and dried his own drenched body.

Well, he hadn't managed to get a bath after his… intercourse with Saeko so he made up for that. Still, an unexpected dip in the river mid-spring wasn't exactly high on his to-do list.

After he was properly dry, he slipped inside a set of pajama and went to check on the cat. It was sleeping peacefully, breathing regularly. Shirou decided to redress the wound with proper bandages but when he removed the old ones, he found that it had already closed.

"Definitely not an ordinary cat," he decided. He delicately put it on a cushion and retired to his bedroom, where he deposited it on his futon before he slipped under the cover himself.

Before he fell asleep, he recalled having left his backpack on the bridge. Fortunately, there wasn't anything in there that could be used to identify him and track his living place, so they should be safe.

Feeling more at ease, he promptly fell asleep. A few minutes later, the sleeping cat's wound was completely healed and with that, its body started undergoing a dramatic, although silent, transformation.

Come dawn, Emiya Shirou would wake up to a very unexpected bedfellow.

* * *

AN: I'm baaaaack! Yeah, it's been a few difficult months for me. No, I won't get into details as we both know you don't care. As usual, read and review. I'm going to be updating my other fic "The Fall" very soon as well.

Stay tuned for more.


	8. 0008

**[EMIYA SHIROU]  
[THE GAMER]  
[LV 20 - 2100/20000]  
[HP: 2000][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 790][SP: 5]  
[STR: 39][DEX: 40][INT: 21][WIS: 31][CHR: 77]**

* * *

Shirou woke at dawn to the sunlight peering through the rice paper of his bedroom door.

 **[You have slept in a bed. HP, ST and MP completely restored]**

That's what the usual message prompt said. Shirou, however, did not bother reading it. Or rather, he was in no condition to read it.

As soon as he opened his eyes, his field of vision was occupied by two pear-shaped mounds of tanned flesh with perky pink buds on top.

 _'Breasts,'_ his brain supplied helpfully. Having acknowledged that, he let out a sigh and closed his eye briefly. They shot back open immediately, nearly bursting out of their sockets.

Slowly, he dragged his gaze upward where he met a set of amber-colored eyes.

"Good morning, champ," the breasts-owner greeted with a mischievous grin.

On that day, Emiya Shirou discovered that a human body can ricochet if propelled with enough force at the right angle.

He shot himself away from the futon, crashing against the wall behind him, bouncing toward the ceiling and from there onto another wall, only to finally crash on the tatami on the opposite side of the very naked woman, who leisurely rolled on herself looking highly amused.

"Well now, that reaction is a new one."

"W-w-wh-," Shirou stuttered as he scrambled backward, waving a panicked finger at his bedfellow.

"Hm? What is it, boya? Out with it."

"Why are you naked?" a red-faced Shirou managed to get out at last.

The woman's grin faltered. "That's your first question? Not who are you or what are you doing in my bed? That's odd even for a Magus."

"I already know. You are Shihōin Yoruichi."

"Huh, so you already saw through that," she said as she slowly rose from the futon, covers sliding over her smooth skin and exposing what was left to expose. Her long dark hair fell down along her back and the few strands that had covered her front she casually pushed away with the back of her hand. If that wasn't enough, she proceeded to stretch her arms above her head, letting out a silent yawn.

Shirou's eyes really threatened to burst out of his skull.

"Would you cover yourself already?"

Yoruichi glanced at him sideways, smacking her lips as she relaxed her body, evidently woefully unconcerned with her nudity. She put a hand on her hips, while the other arm dangled at her side, looking as casual as humanly possible.

After a moment, she took a step toward him and he pushed himself further against the wall.

"O-oi! Didn't you hear?"

She kept advancing until she stood right in front of him, where she sat down unceremoniously, legs crossed loosely. The posture did nothing to hide anything, even less so when she leaned forward with a playful smile.

"I can hear just fine, brat. I can also see fine, and for all your appeals to modesty you have made zero efforts not to stare at my tits. Perv."

Thus, as his face became red enough to self-combust, Emiya Shirou felt like crawling into a hole and die.

It was the first time in his life, but it would not be the last.

* * *

"Mwah ha ha ha!" Yoruichi laughed, wiping tears from her eyes.

She was still comfortably naked but Shirou could not see her, as he was sitting seiza, facing the wall and repenting for his crimes.

"Don't sweat the small stuff, brat," she condoned, laughter subsiding. "It's not like you'll wear out my body just by looking. Besides you got me out of a real tight spot last night. Only this much service is not really enough to pay you back for that."

"I don't need to be paid back anything."

"Oh?" she wondered, moving from her seating position and crawling on all four to where Shirou had confined himself. He didn't see her coming until her head poked into his field of vision next to his arms. "You sure about that? I wouldn't mind letting you do something more than just looking."

Her low voice was mellifluous, inviting, tempting. Sweet honey on dark chocolate. He firmly refused to meet her eyes and stubbornly started at the wall in front of him.

"Y-yeah. I'm sure."

Yoruichi smile grew even further, whether amused or pleased, he didn't know. She pulled away and resumed a sitting position.

"No wonder Saeko-chan took a liking to you."

Shirou's head whipped around so fast he inflicted himself 1 HP damage and another one when he hastily forced it back toward the wall.

"Ack! You know... You know Busujima-sensei?"

"Let's just say that we've met," she said noncommittally.

"Is that so? ... Wait, how did you even know that I know her?"

"Well, if using the Busujima-style last night wasn't enough of hint, the fact that you had her smell all over you was a dead giveaway."

The blood that had just started draining from Shirou's face rushed right back to it.

"About time she loosened up and got herself a toy-boy, though I didn't think she liked them this young."

"Please, don't jump to conclusions," he implored.

"Hm? I don't care much about that. Age doesn't necessarily reflect maturity. More so for those that dabble with the supernatural. Isn't that right, Magus boy?"

"I-I suppose," he conceded tentatively.

"Well then. As you already know I am Shihōin Yoruichi. Do I get to know the name of the guy who saved my life or are you going to play Mister Mistery Hero with me?"

"Ah!" he exclaimed, realizing that through this entire debacle he had not yet given her his name. "I'm Emiya Shirou. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

He bowed, although he was still sitting and facing the wall.

Yoruichi rolled her eyes. She put both hands on his shoulders, spun him around and forcibly shook his hand.

"Yo! Let's get along nicely, Shirou."

"Let's. Now, would mind getting dressed, please?"

Yoruichi sighed good-naturedly. "You do realize I had no clothes with me to begin with, do you?"

Shirou blinked once and then palmed his face very, very hard, its echo drowned out by the sound of Yoruichi's laughter.

At least, Shirou told himself, things couldn't get any weirder or embarrassing than they already were. He couldn't have been more mistaken if he tried.

* * *

"It's a nice place you've got yourself here, Shirou," Yoruichi declared as she strolled leisurely on the patio of the Emiya household, feet bare as the rest of her body.

She disregarded all of Shirou's plea to put on something -anything at all - and declared that she'd take a look around the place. Shirou could only follow after her as she poked her head everywhere she pleased.

He could not comprehend her behavior. He momentarily likened it to Saeko's but they were nowhere similar. Sure enough, they were both stunningly beautiful women but they were as different as night and day and it wasn't just a matter of skin tone.

Whenever Saeko bared her body to him, it was a purposeful, measured act to get a reaction out of him. Yoruichi on the other hand was simply supremely confident in her own nakedness and cared little for what Shirou's thought about it.

In fact, she completely ignored anything he said and proceeded to do exactly as she pleased. She was almost exactly... like... a cat.

For the second time in the span of a few minutes, Shirou palmed his face hard.

Yoruichi looked back at the source of the noise with a half-smile.

"Something patently obvious dawned upon you again?" she asked.

"Something like that," he grumbled.

"So, you live in this huge place all by yourself?"

"What? Oh, yeah."

"No relatives at all? Zero parental supervision?"

"My father passed away a couple of months ago," he said evenly.

"... that's rough," she replied shortly. "Well, that's not good. Just one person living in this big mansion is a complete waste."

"Well, you are not wrong, but that's how it is."

"Right. I'm moving in then."

"I see... -WHAT?"

She grinned at his flabbergasted expression. "I've got to lay low for a while somewhere until that mess blows over. Plus, I was looking for a place to stay in Fuyuki anyway. It's a win-win."

"Wait, wait, wait. You can't just move into my house," he protested vehemently.

"Why not? Have you got anything better to do with all this empty space?"

"I don't but-"

"And I'll make sure to keep you out of my problems as as well."

Shirou's frantic thought process ground to an halt and was suddenly his mind was clear of confusion. He had been completely swept up her overbearing character and he had momentarily forgotten that just the previous night someone had tried to kill her.

 **[NEW QUEST: Can I keep it please?]  
[Objective: Accept Yoruichi request for shelter and deal with the consequences]  
[Reward for failure: none - Reward for success: Lots of headaches, ?,?]  
[Accept?]  
[Y/N]**

Of course a Quest Prompt would show up now and of course it had to be so damn cryptic. There would be no consequences for turning down Yoruichi, or at the very least none that his Gamer Eyes could divine.

Yet he had already found her once wounded and bleeding. Were his Gamer Eyes all knowing all seeing, after all? That was one thing that always troubled Shirou. The Mystic Eyes of Game Perception knew or read things that Shirou himself didn't know, like the names of the people in his field of vision. Where did that information come from? What about Quests objectives and rewards?

Going on with the assumption that his eyes saw everything there was to see was a risky proposition.

 **[+1 INT for thinking things through]**

'Fuck,' he swore inwardly. Pointless musings did not mete out INT rewards. Like any other STAT increase, they came from successfully clearing a relevant challenge.

He looked up at the Quest Prompt again.

 **[NEW QUEST: Can I keep it please?]  
[Objective: Accept Yoruichi request for shelter and deal with the consequences]  
[Reward for failure: ? - Reward for success: Lots of headaches, ?, ?]  
[Accept?]  
[Y/N]**

It had changed! The consequences for turning down Yoruichi were no longer none but had become an unknown instead. Just like Saeko's quest had no option for refusal because to Shirou himself refusing wasn't possible. Now that his perception had changed so had the Quest Prompt.

Careless. He was being way too careless with an ability that he did not fully understand yet. He was lucky to have realized his own blindness before he let something bad happen.

"Are you still with me?" she asked as he had fallen silent all of a sudden.

"Yes. Sorry, I just recalled something important. Fine, you can stay but we're gonna have a talk first."

"Huh?" She blinked in surprise. "Just like that? I thought you'd be harder to convince. Even though you are a little pervert, you really strike me as the uptight sort."

"I don't think that an exhibitionist has any right to call anyone a pervert," he replied with a deadpan glare, even though he had yet to stop blushing at her naked form. "Anyway, I'd like to ask some questions first."

She crossed her arms across her chest. Shirou did not acknowledge the way such gesture pushed up her breasts in any outward manner. That was no accomplishment on his part. His face just couldn't get any more flushed that it already was.

"Questions and I don't really get along," she replied sounding as miffed as she suddenly looked.

"Just one, then."

"Just one," she agreed, glancing at him sideways. "What is it?"

"How likely is that those people would harm bystanders to get at you?"

"... that is what you want to know above all?" Yoruichi asked back, disbelief evident in her voice.

"Yes. Why?"

"No, nothing. Anyway, no more and no less than anyone affiliated with the Moonlit World would. Unless they get in the way like you did last night, they'd rather sneak past ordinary people than harm them."

Not indiscriminate murderers then. Shirou was satisfied with that much.

"Alright. I'll set up a room for you in the detached building over there," he jerked his thumb at the aforementioned building.

"Hold up, are you sure it's fine just like that? You are not going to ask what I did to have people trying to kill me?"

"If you wanted me to know, you'd have told me by now, and if I had asked you'd have just evaded the question anyway."

"I'm not saying that you're wrong about that, but what makes you think I wouldn't just make up a story instead?"

"Would you even bother?"

Yoruichi sighed. "To be seen through so easily after all this time... You really got sharp eyes, Shirou."

He shrugged. "The Moonlit World isn't a place you can live in without paying attention to the details."

"I thought I already gave you enough details to pay attention to." Shirou's eyebrow twitched. His evident annoyance was offset by the color of his face. "Anyway, I thought you'd ask about my cat form, at the very least."

"Yeah, I'm curious about that, but it seems like a very personal thing to ask. If you want to tell me though, I'm all ears."

"You're putting a whole lot of trust in someone you just met," she remarked.

Shirou frowned at her. A woman confident with being naked front of him in his own home had problem processing his hospitality?

"You are not used to the kindness of strangers, are you?" he blurted out almost randomly.

Yoruichi made a complicated expression. Amused, yet bashful.

"To think that I'd meet a guy that couldn't be satisfied by looking at my naked body but would want to reach even deeper. How greedy of you, Shirou."

Shirou was so taken aback by the sudden vulnerability in her voice that he completely missed her double entendre. Clearly this woman had no problems exposing her body, but the same could not be said about

her heart.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to offend."

"It's not..." she trailed off and then sighed. "Gee, we sure are an odd pair."

"Seems like it," Shirou agreed.

They lapsed into silence. Awkward, yet not uncomfortable.

If waking up to a naked beauty who the previous night was a cat wasn't surreal enough, here they were, two almost-strangers having threaded onto sensitive topics almost by accidents.

"Looks like I have been careless, though," she said after a while. "I simply thought that Saeko-chan liked 'em young, but you actually charmed off her panties on your own, huh?"

And just like that, the magic was gone.

Embarrassment renewed, Shirou palmed his face for the third time in a row.

"Oh? What have you figured out this time?"

"That you are the kind of woman that's always going to have the last word no matter what, and trying to change that will only make me more miserable."

She ruffled his hair playfully. "Keep it up and we're going to get along just fine."

As the first of the promised headaches started to onset, Shirou wondered whether or not going along with this woman would be a good thing at all.

It wouldn't be the last time he'd ask himself that.

* * *

In the following days, Yoruichi moved in Shirou's place seamlessly, though perhaps moving in was too big of a word as she did not seem to own a single thing, least of all clothing. At least he had basic toiletries to spare for her.

However, after the first tumultuous morning it was almost like she wasn't there at all.

She didn't show up for meals, fortunately, since Taiga would be there too and Shirou wasn't looking forward to explaining Yoruichi's presence to his foster sister.

She did however accept any snack he came bearing but sometimes stuff disappeared mysteriously from the fridge. Shirou didn't bother asking if it had been her doing since she'd just admit it and keep doing it anyway.

He gave her a room in the detached building, but to the best of his knowledge she never used it. During the day she would laze around the house, napping under the sunlight on the patio in her cat form, or tanning on the roof in her human form.

At night, however, she was nowhere to be found. Shirou excluded that she would hide from him specifically at that time, so he assumed that she went about her business under the cover of the darkness.

He would see her again infallibly every morning. In his room. She would either be on top of the covers as a cat or underneath them as a human.

That made waking up a very awkward experience.

At the very least, Yoruichi didn't call him out or tease him about his evident arousal. In any event, Shirou couldn't decide whether waking up with her arms and legs wrapped around him was heaven or hell.

It took Shirou every bit of his Magus discipline not to act on the instincts he was becoming more and more familiar with, not in small part because of Saeko's sweet punishments.

Between the two women, Shirou's head was filled by lewd thoughts almost all day long. To make matter worse, he finally found the downside of having a [Gamer Body]. There was no separation between ordinary and sexual stamina, therefore as long as he had even just one ST point left in his system, his arousal would manifest full-force. Moreover, his stamina was already beyond what he consumed during the day with the exception of when he trained with Saeko. Although, to be completely honest, it wasn't the training that drained most of his stamina.

In any event, he was extremely troubled. Anyone else would have lost themselves to hedonism, but Shirou was far too dedicated in helping others to spend hours on end to relieve himself.

Still, once everything was said and done at the end of the day, in order to manage to fall asleep, Shirou had to empty his stamina or it would take him a very long time before he managed to close his eyes for good.

However, once again the Gamer Body showed exactly how double-edged it was, considering that during one of such "stamina-draning" sessions a message prompt showed up.

 **[Sexual Interaction has reached LV 8]**

Even though his mind was half-blank from the self-imposed climax, Shirou still grimaced. It seemed like nothing was safe from the power of the Gamer Eyes and Body.

Still, leveling up a skill, how bad could it be?

* * *

"Hnn..!" Saeko stifled a moan as yet another orgasm shook her. It was her third that day. The second since they moved from foreplay to full intercourse.

It had been already three weeks since the two of them had started this immoral relationship. Three weeks since she had been saved. Three weeks since she had been liberated.

Almost a month. More than enough time to get used to something. At the very least, more than enough for the novelty to wear off, to lose its luster.

It wasn't the case. Rather than diminishing, it had become more intense. Both of them had come accustomed with the act, losing the initial awkwardness and thus becoming able to enjoy themselves more.

However, a disparity was starting to form between them.

Shirou was lasting longer and getting better at it each time. It took Saeko a great deal of willpower to maintain her composure while Shirou kept thrusting inside her even though she had already climaxed twice while he still hadn't.

It didn't help her that his troubled face as he lost the battle against instinct was so adorable. It made her want to torment him more and more with her body, even though she was the one whose consciousness was being eroded faster.

If he kept improving like that before long she wouldn't be able to resist him, much less punish him.

 _'Fuh uh uh,'_ she chuckled in her head. _'It looks like that even this will turn into a battle between us, after all.'_

To think that he would end up rousing her fighting spirit and her lust at the same time...

She had already admitted it, but she was being forced to acknowledge it yet again. Emiya Shirou was truly something else. Even if she'd end up losing to him, she probably wouldn't mind. However, she wasn't willing to give up the upper hand just yet.

Little did she know that the greater the difficulty level, the faster Shirou would progress. Still, it wasn't like she'd regret it either if it would end up backfiring on her.

* * *

 **[EMIYA SHIROU]  
[THE GAMER]  
[LV 25 - 1300/25000]  
[HP: 2500][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 810 ][SP: 10]  
[STR: 41][DEX: 42][INT: 22][WIS: 31][CHR: 77]**

Time passed, without anything worthy of notice happening. Shirou kept grinding his STATS, doing simple Quests around town and fighting undeads on top of the mountains during the full moon.

Destroying those manifestations of malice net him more experience points in a single night than several weeks of doing quests in town. On that night his level had reached 25 and he finally maxed out the Busujima style of swordplay.

At dawn, after he and Saeko returned to her place, she gave him his graduation present.

"Here, you can have this, Shirou," she said as she offered him a long-shaped object wrapped in white cloth.

Shirou received it with both hands and unfurled the satchel, exposing the hilt of an elegant-looking katana.

 **[Shisui]  
[DMG+150]  
[Description: A blade passed down the Busujima family since time immemorial. The one wielding it is recognized as the next head of the clan. After being used for generations to cleanse the souls of the damned, it has achieved an affinity against the supernatural]  
[DMG against supernatural entities x1.5]**

"Sensei, this is..."

"That sword is called Shisui. It was my father's blade and his father's before him. It belonged the Busujima family since the foundation of our clan."

Shirou knew that. His Sword affinity had already told him as much. He also understood what receiving the sword meant.

 _\- Become my family -_

"I cannot accept it," he said, returning it back to her.

"I knew you would have said that, but may I ask you why all the same?"

"I have made a promise to my late father. To become an ally of justice. A hero that can save everyone."

He said it completely seriously. It might have sounded like a childish dream, particularly coming from a kid his age.

Saeko did not laugh, though. Had anyone else said it, she would have thought it silly, but a woman who had already been saved by him didn't have that right.

She would not belittle his dream, but she would not lie about it either.

"Such a thing is unattainable, Shirou."

"Yeah, I know that already," he replied without missing a beat.

"Then, why?"

"Because I think it's beautiful. Even if it's something that cannot be reached, it's still something that's worth pursuing."

"To live for an ideal."

"Yes," he nodded solemnly.

"You never cease to amaze me, you know that?" Saeko smiled.

"I'd hate to become a man you would consider mediocre, Saeko."

Saeko's face blushed prettily. "Now, now, Shirou. Saying something like that after rejecting me it's just mean."

"Sorry," he scratched his cheek, looking away. Sometimes words escaped his mouth before he could think them through as result of his high charisma and wisdom. Still, he did not regret it. Saeko's blushing face was very charming.

"It's fine," she shook her head. "And it's also fine for you to keep that sword."

"But..."

"Father wouldn't have wanted for it to be left to rust, and I believe he wouldn't have found fault in the man I chose to wield it either."

"I'm honored."

"I ask only one favor in return for it."

"What is it?" he asked eagerly. If he could, he'd repay her in any way.

Saeko smiled mischievously and leaned forward to whisper in his ear.

Shirou's jaw slackened as he processed her words, face paling at first, then reddening rapidly and lastly settling in a resolute frown.

"I definitely will!"

Saeko smiled and kissed his lips sweetly.

Emiya Shirou had long since chosen to live for the sake of helping others, regardless of the hurdles that would come his way. Nonetheless...

 _\- When you've become a hero, help me rebuild my clan. -_

... some promises he was looking forward to fulfill more than others.

* * *

 **[You have slept in a bed. HP, ST and MP completely restored]**

"You've gotten stronger. Much stronger than yesterday."

That's what Yoruichi said when he opened his eyes in his bed the next morning. She was on all four, limbs tense, like a cat in human form would. Her butt was sticking up in the air and her breasts dangled in his vision.

It would have been a powerfully erotic image, except it was anything but.

The intensity of her gaze was unsettling to the point that Shirou forgot all about her nakedness and their position.

He was being scrutinized, measured, judged.

"Cliche as it may sound, I have no idea what you're talking about," he admitted.

Her eyes narrowed. "Don't play coy with me. I'm very good at telling people's strength and you've gotten much more powerful than yesterday. I would say About 25% stronger."

 _'Whoa. Accurate,'_ he thought as he recalled going from level 20 to 25 in the course of fighting undeads the previous night.

"Your point being?" he asked.

"No one can improve that much overnight. Even Magecraft cannot provide permanent increments in power like that."

"True, but I still don't see your point. You are accusing me of something, but I don't know what. If you'd stop speaking in riddles maybe I could understand what I might have done to upset you."

"No need for words."

Yoruichi threw off the covers of the futon. Shirou had no time to move that she pinned him down by the neck. Yoruichi other hand went for his chest and ripped open the shirt of his pajama, only to stop at the sight of his unblemished chest.

"... no hole. Why?"

"I think... I'd have noticed if there had been a hole somewhere on my chest, Yoruichi-san."

Her eyes returned to his, still scrutinizing yet uncertain.

"How have you become so much stronger all of a sudden?" she demanded to know.

"I have my own secrets, you know? You don't see me prodding at yours, so kindly return the favor."

She tightened the hold around his neck. "Have you killed Saeko-chan?"

"... Hah? What? No! What are you talking about?"

"There is no way for power to be created from nothing," Yoruichi explained while searching his eyes for something. "But it is possible to take somebody else's strength for oneselves."

"What? That's ridiculous. How would anyone go about doing something like that?"

"By killing them and devouring their soul."

Shirou's eyes narrowed and his face morphed into a snarl.

"Are you saying that there's people who would do something like that?"

"Obviously. Which leaves me with quite the conundrum seeing a kid, who on top of being stronger than he has any right to be, suddenly got even stronger in the span of a few hours."

"I'd never do something like that."

"Yes, I think so too," she nodded, finally releasing the grip on his neck. "If you were the type of person who would do something of the sort, you would have tried to devour me already."

"... That's why you were clinging to me every night," he realized. "You were baiting me."

She nodded. "No Hollow would miss the chance to consume someone who is several times stronger than themselves. Not if they stumble upon them while defenseless."

"Hollow?"

"The name given to those who consume other people's souls to steal their abilities and lifespan."

Shirou squirmed as she wiggled away from underneath Yoruichi. "I've never heard about them before."

"Unsurprisingly. Unlike beings such as Dead Apostles, they aren't territorials and don't kill just anyone. They only pick those with enough strength that they would benefit from it." she explained. "They also don't act as an organized group. In fact, I doubt most of them know who the others are."

"So, you thought I was one of them," he concluded.

"Indeed. You are far too strong for how young you look, but that would only be normal if you had slowed down your aging process by consuming human souls."

"You've suspected me from the start?" he asked.

"I was almost sure you were Hollow the moment we met, but instead of eating me right there and then, you protected me and that threw me for a loop. Hollows can be some very twisted individuals though so I figured you were the type who'd play with his food first. Yet you rejected all of my advances and never took advantage of any opening I've left on purpose. That worked in your favor, I admit, but you had no background prior to the fire from five years ago. Pretty convenient for someone who's not aging, isn't it? In addition your foster father, the famed Magus Killer died from an undiagnosed illness and you, who are not related by blood and thus shouldn't have been able to inherit his Magecraft are a Magus yourself."

"You thought I ate Kiritsugu's soul?" he asked in shock. Then he registered what else she had said. "Hold up, Magus Killer?"

"You didn't know?" she tilted her head. "Your dad was pretty infamous in our circles."

"Dad was... he didn't want to teach me Magecraft at first and he didn't talk much about his past either."

She shrugged, uninterested about his personal drama. "I was really confused about you. Everything pointed at you being Hollow, but your behavior was completely wrong for one. Attending school diligently every day, putting up with that nutjob of your guardian, spending days helping out people around town with no evident benefit -"

"You have been following me?" He hadn't noticed it, even with his [Detect Presence] and [Sense the Unnatural]. How good was she?

"- so I was about to consider you a mere abnormality," she continued, "but then your returned home with a power boost that only being Hollow could explain."

"So, why do you think I'm not?"

She tapped his bare chest with a slender finger. "After they consume a human soul, a hole appears on the Hollow's chest. It's why they are called such in the first place. After a few weeks, it disappears, but it's impossible to conceal right away. I thought I had you, but there's no hole."

"I'd say. I would never do something like that."

"Hm. That's what I would have liked to think too," she nodded. "But then, how are you like this?"

"I have a special constitution," he explained trying to remain vague. "Unlike ordinary humans who need time for their physical strength to grow, I'm only bound by the amount of effort I put in regardless of time."

That was what sold his particular brand of Mystic Eyes. Humans couldn't get stronger just by investing effort. They needed proper nourishment and proper rest. The Gamer Body bypassed it entirely and made getting stronger just a matter of grinding or leveling up. If a normal human tried it, forget about getting stronger, they would hurt themselves instead. It was only in shounen manga and videogames that one could get stronger by training like a madman day and night. No wonder Yoruichi who could tell people strength apart had suspected him of being one of those people who cannibalized human souls.

"Huh-uh. Sounds like bullshit."

"Also, my Element and Origin are both Sword," he admitted begrudgingly, hoping that it would be enough an explanation for her. He'd rather not speak of the Gamer Eyes.

Yoruichi blinked. "Well, that would go a long way to explain things. You are a little sword prodigy, ain'tcha?"

"Something like that. Those people the other night, were they Hollows?"

"Who, those chumps?" she laughed. "As if. Their grudges had nothing to do with my job as a Shinigami."

"Shinigami? Death God?"

"Lofty title, huh?" she shrugged. "That's what Hollows call us. Those who bring them the death they have cheated. We're just glorified sweepers, though."

"So, who were they?"

"Let's just say that my people aren't above squabbling among themselves. I got a friend out of a spot of trouble with the law, so to speak, and got myself exiled from my clan in return. Some people decided that lacking the protection of my family gave them the opportunity to settle some old grudges without reprisal and they found me right after I got out of a fight against a very tough Hollow. That's as much as I'm willing to share about the matter."

"Well, alright. As long as you're sure you can handle it yourself, I won't pry. That being said, would you mind telling me what you know about my father?"

"Sure, it's not like I knew him personally anyway."

"Also, get some damn clothes on now that you're done trying to tempt me."

"Who said anything about being done?" she snorted. "I still enjoy messing with you."

"Yeah. I had figured that part on my own, thanks," he sighed. Of course, why did he expect any different from her at this point? This was a woman who did precisely everything she wanted. Shirou had no doubt in his mind that helping a fugitive from the law had been just an excuse for her clan to finally throw her out. Knowing her, they had been probably as vexed with her as he was right then.

Unaware of his thoughts, Yoruichi kept smiling at his obvious discomfort.

At least, he'd get to know more about Kiritsugu. He supposed it was a small price to pay for that.

* * *

XXX

* * *

AN: And here we go! Yoruichi has joined the fray. Read and review folks

By the way, just so you know, I have set up my own blog: ichasennin . wordpress [dotCOM]

New chapters from my stories are going to be published there first, one week in advance from here so make sure to head over there and subscribe. In the future there will be other fics and original stories that won't be published here at all. In addition, chapters there will come with H-pictures from time to times.

Also, in the spirit of giving a huge fuck you to those who tried to take me down, I set up a P atreon account. If you feel like supporting me, do it here: p atreon [dotCOM] / ichaichasennin.


	9. 0009

**[EMIYA SHIROU]  
** **[THE GAMER]  
** **[LV 25 - 1300/25000]  
** **[HP: 2500][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 810 ][SP: 10]  
** **[STR: 41][DEX: 42][INT: 22][WIS: 31][CHR: 77]**

When Shirou woke up the next morning, Yoruichi was nowhere to be found.

Granted, he expected no less since she was no longer trying to tempt him to eat her while she slept, but only now he realized that he had grown accustomed to having her as a bedfellow.

Even though it was bad for Shirou's budding hormones, there was something to be said about waking up in the arms of a stunningly beautiful naked woman.

If someone had told him just a few weeks ago that he would have missed even slightly being teased into a puddle, Shirou would have been... skeptical, to say the least.

Well, there was no use mulling over it. Besides he had more important things to think about, namely what Yoruichi had told him about Kiritsugu.

Apparently, his adoptive father had been a sort of boogeyman in the Moonlit World. Not quite a hitman, but at least someone whose appearance made you wonder who would bite it next.

If you saw him coming at all.

The Magus Killer did not discriminate. He killed who he needed to kill, regardless of things such as age and gender. Or even just if said target had it coming, for one reason or another.

Shirou had a hard time reconciling that knowledge with the man who spilled tears of joy at having saved a single life.

He didn't think Yoruichi had lied to him and had he been any less smart, maybe he would have felt betrayed.

Instead, for the previous few days he was merely contemplative.

He already knew that Kiritsugu had wanted to become a hero, but ended up facing the reality that not everyone could be saved, that no matter how much power you had, you could only save the people you sided with. That even god could only save so many.

He knew that, because Kiritsugu had told him, but how had the man himself found out, if not by trying and failing?

If Shirou hadn't been told, if he hadn't known and accepted from the beginning the impossibility of it all, would disappointment and disillusionment have turned him down a similar path, given enough time?

There was no knowing it now, but he decided to believe that his father had been trying his best, even if he could never completely understand his reasoning.

 **[+2 WIS for accepting what you cannot understand]**

"Heh," he scoffed. Trust his dumb ability to pitch in like that.

Speaking of his ability, lately he had stopped with his morning physical routine. His training regimen no longer bore any discernible fruit. He could spend entire days doing push ups or running and he would maybe get a single point in Strength and Dexterity in the span of a week.

He considered going to a gym, where he supposed he'd have double gains in physical stats just like a library did for Intelligence, but Shirou didn't think it would be a good thing benching several time his weight in public. Not for a lean-looking ten-years-old anyway.

He considered buying weights and make his own gym in one of the many unused rooms in the house but good equipment cost a lot of money and Shirou's budget was tight. Kiritsugu had left him enough money to tide over until he was old enough to get himself a job and his finances were of course being watched over by Taiga. There was no way he could justify that kind of expense when joining a gym was so much cheaper.

Maybe he needed to find himself an employment? But who would hire a kid his age? Even if could convince someone to give him a job using his Charisma, it remained the fact that hiring someone that young was flat out illegal.

Of course Shirou wouldn't want to put someone in trouble with the law for his benefit.

 **[Presence detected. Distance: 0.2 meters. Direction: 6 o'clock]**

"Penny for your thoughts?" Yoruichi silk-like voice whispered right in his ear.

Shirou didn't jump out of his own skin only because he had received the alert from his [Detect Presence] skill. Still, Yoruichi's warm breath on his skin shivers down his spine.

"I was thinking about looking for a job."

Yoruichi sighed. "You ever consider doing something fun sometimes? All I ever see you doing outside of school is cooking, training and helping people around town. Now you want to find a job too? Your hair are going to turn white like an old man's at this rate."

"For your information, I happen to enjoy cooking and helping out. More importantly, if my hair are going to turn white anytime soon you'll be the one to blame."

"How rude. I'm doing you a favor by hanging around and keeping you on your toes."

Shirou threw her a glance that said wonders about what he thought of that. Yoruichi chuckled and ruffled his hair playfully.

It looked like that just like Shirou wasn't getting used to Yoruichi being herself, she wasn't getting tired of pulling his chain.

"Anyway, if it's a job you're looking for, I have just the thing for you."

"Huh? What is it?"

"Shirooou~!" Taiga called out as she stepped into the living room. "Is breakfast ready?"

Shirou whirled around to stop Taiga and give Yoruichi enough time to hide, only to find that his sister had already stepped into the living room and was looking straight at him, right until she looked down at his feet.

"Ah! Neko!"

Shirou looked down just to see Yoruichi's cat form sitting between his legs.

"Shirou, where did you find this cat?" she asked as she picked Yoruichi up from the ground.

"It's so cute."

The cat look at Taiga impassively.

After a moment Yoruichi jumped toward Shirou who readily caught her, if only because he had lightning fast reflexes.

"What the hell are you doing?" he hissed under his breath.

Yoruichi didn't answer, being a cat and all. Instead she curled into his arms and started purring up a storm.

Taiga's eyes turned serious as she looked from the cat up to Shirou and back.

"I don't think I like this cat, after all. Throw it out, Shirou."

"Sorry, can't do that Taiga. I'm... keeping her for a friend that had to leave the country for a while."

Taiga seemed like she wanted to ask who this friend was, but refrained at the last moment. At that point it time, being renown as someone who did favors to anyone who'd ask really came in handy to justify many odd circumstances without going in too much detail.

"It won't get any share of my food," she warned.

"Of course," Shirou promised. That went without saying. The last thing he needed was an hungry, irritated Taiga on his hands. She was already a handful when she was fed and in a good mood. "By the way, breakfast will be ready soon. Go take a seat and watch some TV until then."

Still looking impassively at Yoruichi, Taiga retreated and did as Shirou instructed.

At which point Shirou opened his arms and dropped Yoruichi on the ground.

"Seriously?" he asked, arching an eyebrow at her.

Yoruichi just turned her head as cats are wont to do when they don't want to acknowledge something or someone.

Shirou sighed and resume making breakfast, while Yoruichi softly made her way to the living room, where she curled up on Shirou's cushion.

Cat and Tiger stared at each other in utter silence.

There was no need for them to say anything, after all. The message was perfectly clear as it was.

 _'You're on!'_

A battle of ownership had begun, while their prize was happily oblivious of the storm building up inside his own home.

[br]

"You mentioned a job earlier," Shirou said after he came back from school, climbing on the rooftop where Yoruichi was sunbathing.

"Oh, yes. You're still on the weak side, but you've got the potential."

"Can you just stop beating around the bush, please?"

Yoruichi blinked. "... You get worked up about that when I called you weak in the same sentence?"

Shirou scowled. "What are you on about? If I thought my current strength was enough I wouldn't be training so hard."

Yoruichi shook her head. "You are the weirdest kid I ever met, I swear."

"I don't want to hear that from the nudist sunbathing on my roof."

"Heh! Anyway, I thought that with a bit of training under your belt, you could easily become a sweeper."

"I suppose you are not talking about an actual street cleaner."

"You're right. I'm talking about someone like me. Our job is to hunt the malicious manifestations of the supernatural that appear here and there. If you agree, I can get you into our organization."

"I thought you had been cast out."

"From my clan, yes, not from the larger group we're part of."

Shirou rubbed his chin in thought. Fighting was what he was good at, although he didn't like hurting people. It was completely different if what had to fight were malicious supernatural entities, like the wraiths up the mountain.

"Before I agree to anything, is there some kind of dumbass rule of conduct it that I should be aware of?"

"What makes you think that?" she asked back, frowning.

Shirou rolled his shoulders. "As annoying as you can be, you aren't a bad person and I think you are smart enough to run circles around most people. If you had to break the law, your hand was either forced by the circumstances or it was something morally debatable from the start."

The Mage Association had rules like that as well, Kiritsugu had taught him. Murder was a preferable option to exposing Magecraft to the public.

Yoruichi sat up, crossing her legs, staring at Shirou with a bemused expression on her face. Faster than he could react, she wrapped her arms around his head and hugged his face into her bosom.

"HuMmM!" Shirou protested from the valley of her breasts, flailing his arms around wildly.

"I really can't let my guard down around you, can I? Just when I thought I had you pegged, you do or say something downright adorable."

Meanwhile, as he struggled with suffocation, Shirou's brain didn't know whether it had to send blood to his face or to his crotch. Unable to come up with a decision, it did the only reasonable thing it could and shut down to prevent overloading.

Shirou went limp in Yoruichi's arms and the naked woman pulled him away, only to find him passed out with his eyes swirling.

"Looks like I really overdone it this time," she chuckled.

Still, she pondered as he laid him down beside her, Shirou was really one of a kind.

At the beginning she was guarded around him. Because she thought he was Hollow at first, but also because he was abnormal.

He was way too mature for a child, even a Magus one. Perhaps being the son of the infamous Magus Killer could explain it, but the boy expressed none of the ruthless pragmatism his father was known for.

He was straightforward and honest as one would expect from a kid his age, yet he was focused and driven in a way only a few adults could be.

It was jarring how difficult it was for her to look at him and think _'this is a kid'._

He had a presence that seemed to draw her in. Few people, much less men, managed to hold her interest for an extended period of time. Most fell into easily predictable patterns, particularly where she was involved.

Not Shirou.

Although he was as transparent as a window, she just couldn't figure him out completely.

Under the right circumstances, she could understand why an older woman would want to be involved with him. Romantically, if not sexually.

Yoruichi had little difficulty believing that someone who already lived an existence removed for ordinary humans, like Saeko, could throw away her social mores and just ravish him, age be damned.

What surprised her, was that it had been Saeko of all people. The woman was wound up so tightly that it was only a matter of time before she exploded.

How in hell Shirou had managed to defuse that ticking time bomb, Yoruichi couldn't begin to fathom.

Was it a wonder then, that she would find him interesting as well?

Briefly, she wondered if that was how it had started for Saeko. A budding curiosity for a mysterious existence that eventually devolved into a sordid affair.

Maybe it was only a matter of time before she too ended up having the hots the kid.

"As if something like that would ever happen to me," she laughed to herself and resumed her sunbathing next to the unconscious Magus.

She should have known better than to needlessly tempt fate.

[br]

When Shirou woke up on the roof, Yoruichi was gone. Of course she would just disappear when he wanted something from her.

He wasted no time looking for her. She would show up when it suited her. Besides, it was time for him to head into town and do Quests.

After the commotions of the past few days, he expected the afternoon would be entirely dull and unsurprising.

[br]

 **That evening**

 **[Your cooking has reached Lv. 45]**

Shirou put down the knife and glanced at the message prompt.

 _'Again? I leveled it up just this morning...'_

Sometimes, Shirou didn't understand how leveling worked. Progression was supposed to be relatively linear (when accounting for the law of diminishing returns). Yet sometimes some of his skills would level up way sooner than his most optimistic estimations.

Cooking was one such skills. Even though it was one he practiced little, just a few minutes three times a day, it leveled up fairly often.

Sure enough, with each higher level he tried his hand at increasingly complex recipes, so it was only natural but it fluctuated too much. Sometime he only gained a level per week and some other times two levels in the same day.

There had to be some other factor, he decided as he resumed chopping vegetables. If he could figure it out and replicate it elsewhere it would be great.

He inclined the chopping board and pushed the diced vegetables into a plate, then placed both the chopping board and the knife into sink.

 _'It can't be a random roll of some kind,'_ he mused, 'There was never any indication of such things as far as leveling is concerned. What kind of obscure parameter could be at play?'

He felt he was on the cusp of a realization of some kind. Something nudged at this mind, but he couldn't quite put it into focus.

At that point, he caught his reflection on the knife he had just done washing.

"..."

He looked intensely at the knife, almost as if it held the solution to the mystery.

 **[Presence Detected. Distance: 0,2 meters - Direction: 6 o'clock ]**

"Narcissist much?" Yoruichi whispered in his ear.

"Just thinking," he replied, lowering his knife into the sink again.

"You do that an awful lot," the dark skinned woman said amusedly.

"Someone under this roof has to," he retorted, " and I don't see you volunteering."

Yoruichi smiled. "I'll make comedian out of you yet."

"I'll pass. I wouldn't want to steal your role."

"Ha! To think that you can switch from being an adorable little thing to a snarky midget in the same day. You are just full of talents, aren't you?" she ruffled his hair.

"What do you need, Yoruichi-san?" he sighed, pushing away her hand and choosing to drop the antics. It's not like he would ever win against her. Not with words, at least.

"I got in touch with my organization and I set up a meeting for you. Go to this place tomorrow for an interview."

She gave him a slip of paper with an address in the city he didn't recognize.

"What kind of interview are we talking about?"

"That would be telling, Shirou-chan" the cat-aspected woman purred while she stroked his cheek.

Blushing and slapping her hand away, Shirou narrowed his eyes. "I'm bringing a sword then."

"If it makes you feel more confident, then by all means."

He narrowed his eyes even further.

"Armor too," he decided at which Yoruichi burst out laughing wholeheartedly.

"Let's put it this way," she told him between bouts of laughter. "Either way it goes, you'll definitely need protection."

There was some kind of joke in her words, but he couldn't figure it out. Needless to say, it didn't reassure him at all.

Whatever retort he was about to come up with was interrupted by the doorbell ringing.

Taiga would just let herself in and besides she wouldn't be coming for dinner today since she had a PTA meeting.

It was almost time for dinner so who could it possibly be?

When Shirou wasn't looking, as usual, Yoruichi changed to her cat form.

She let out a meow that seemed to ask what was he waiting for.

Shaking his head at her antics, he went to answer the door. It was the last person he would have expected to see.

"Good evening, Shirou."

"Saeko? What are you doing here?"

"Oh? Can't I make house visits to my only disciple? Even if it's swordsmanship, I'm still your teacher," she smiled coyly.

"It's not that," he shook his head. "You are always welcome, I just wasn't expecting you to drop by. Please, come inside."

"Thank you," she said walking past him and into the entrance, where she exchanged her shoes for a pair of slippers he provided.

"What a delicious smell," she said, tilting her head as if trying to grasp it better. "Were you already dining? If so, I can return at another time. I wouldn't want to impose."

"No, no. I was preparing and besides I would be happy if you joined me for dinner. No imposition at all."

"Preparing?" she tilted her head. "Can you cook, Shirou?"

"I'd like to think I'm a fair hand at it, yes," he replied humbly. Technically, the description of his [Cooking] skill at the current level said that he was above the average professional chef.

"Well then. I would really like to see how good my disciple is outside of the dojo. Besides what you have already shown me, of course."

Shirou's face turned red. "Uh, about that... there isn't exactly only the two of us here today."

"Your guardian is coming over? I believed that all teacher were having PTA meetings today."

"Well yes, Fuji-nee won't be coming by today... Wait, why do you know about my guardian being a teacher? For that matter, why do you know about the PTA meeting? They aren't held on the same day for high-schools."

It was Saeko's turn to become flustered, but before she could say anything another voice answered for her.

"Because she wanted to take advantage of your guardian's absence to ravish you in your own home, Shirou-chan. That much should be obvious."

They both turned to look at Yoruichi, who was back in human form and of course in all of her naked glory.

"Yoruichi-san!" Shirou cried in dismay. Wasn't she supposed to stay hidden? Granted, she knew Saeko but Shirou would have wanted to break the news of her presence a bit more gently.

"You!" Saeko hissed, stepping protectively in front of Shirou. "What are you doing here, you... you pervert?"

Yoruichi looked around, searching for said pervert

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you talking to me?" she asked innocently. "How strange. Last I checked I wasn't the one getting boned by a ten-years-old kid."

"I- I don't know what you -Shirou?"

"Yoruichi-san," he said firmly, stepping in front of Saeko. "Saeko is my lover and there's no point denying it. However, inside this house you are both my guests and I expect a certain level of respect and decency by everyone. Saeko, please refrain from name-calling. Yoruichi-san, if you intend to be in polite company you'll either keep to your cat form or get dressed. These are my rules. Abide by them or get out."

There was a moment of stunned silence, though the reasons differed for each woman.

Yoruichi was taken aback, because Shirou might have grumbled, but ultimately he let her get away with anything. At first, she thought he was standing up for his lover, but instead she reprimanded Saeko first and only then turned on her. He was being a fair host and she could respect that. More importantly, she never expect he had it in him to be this firm around others.

Saeko on the other hand had the ground swept from under her feet when Shirou boldly called her his lover and she didn't have the presence of mind to protest when he asked -demanded her to be polite to that woman. She then lost the will to say anything at all when he doubled down on Yoruichi's behavior and laid down his ultimatum.

She had gotten so used to be on top with him that she had almost forgotten how unrelenting he could get with the right motivation. It made her heart flutter.

As for Shirou, he didn't like laying down the law, but he knew that asking nicely wouldn't get him anywhere. They were both powerful and headstrong women, apparently with a bone to pick with each other. If he allowed them to build up momentum, forget about politeness, he'd have to pry them from one another with a crowbar. It was much better to put down his foot from the start.

He who seize the initiative wins.

"Never thought I'd see the day I'd when I'd get scolded by a kid," Yoruichi grumbled. "Fine, I'm going to get something to wear."

"Shirou, why is she here?" Saeko asked, but answered her own question before Shirou could. "No, I already know that. She was in need of help and you provided it. I should not have expected any less from you."

He nodded in gratitude for her understanding. Their relationship was odd. They had never spoken of commitment to each other, in fact he turned her down immediately when she made him the equivalent of a proposal. However, to find a naked woman in the house of your lover was bound to be ground for jealousy.

In fact he'd rather not think about a situation when the roles would be reversed. It made him quite nauseous.

'She's mine,' he thought fiercely and almost recoiled to the intensity of that feeling. He shouldn't be thinking like that. He neither could nor would stop her if she wished to be with someone else. Still, that didn't mean he'd like it.

"By the way, Shirou?" she called as they walked toward the living room.

"What is it, Saeko?

"Just now, you've made me fall for you all over again, you know?"

As his face acquired an interesting shade of red, Shirou told himself that he didn't feel supremely satisfied about it.

The first requirement to be a Magus, after all, is being able to thoroughly believe your own delusions and when it came down to that, no one would ever surpass Emiya Shirou.

* * *

Yoruichi came back a few minutes later wearing a green strap shirt over black shorts.

"What?" she asked when Shirou looked at her strangely.

"Nothing. I just thought that those clothes suits you."

"I swear, you are the first guy so adamant about getting me into clothes instead of wanting me out of them."

"Because Shirou is a respectable person," Saeko commented. "Unlike some."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Saeko-chan," she said right back. "You aren't that bad."

The two women glared at each other. Actually, Saeko was doing all of the glaring while Yoruichi was doing all of the grinning.

"It's not really any of my business," Shirou cut in, "but why do you hate each other so much?"

"I don't hate her," Yoruichi objected. "I rather like Saeko-chan. She's easier to rile up than you are."

Shirou's eyebrow twitched. "Should have figured it was something like that."

"I don't hate her either," Saeko answered. "It's just that she has been persona non-grata for the Busujima clan for over a century."

"Excuse me?" Shirou blinked rapidly, then turned to stare at the woman that didn't look any older than twenty-five.

"Now, now, Saeko-chan. Going around revealing a woman's age is just rude."

Shirou's mind was reeling. This gorgeous woman... was over ten times his age?

"Are you some kind of vampire, Yoruichi-san?"

"Naah," she shook her head. "I just age veeeery slowly."

"Yeah, I can see that," he agreed. "It's too much hoping you would just explain your circumstances, right?"

"Not a chance in hell," she confirmed.

"Figures. Anyway, dinner's going to be ready in a minute. Take a seat with Saeko and don't kill each other."

Yoruichi did as instructed and took a seat opposite to the scowling swordswoman.

"So, Shirou eh?" she asked ironically with a voice that couldn't be heard from the kitchen over the sounds of Shirou cooking. "How did that happen?"

"It's none of your business, Yoruichi."

"I mean, he's a remarkable kid, exceptional even, but I would have thought he'd be a bit too young for your tastes."

"Does age matter when you are standing on the edge of the abyss?" she asked, scowling. "Does it matter when he keeps me from falling into it?"

"... Holy shit, he's really got you good," Yoruichi said in amazement.

"Hmph!" Saeko scoffed.

Yoruichi had expected a sordid carnal affair, a mutual scratching of itches, with the age difference partially excused by Shirou's exceptional maturity, but it wasn't the case.

Saeko was heads over heels for Shirou.

She glanced to the kid, no, the young man who was standing on a stool to better reach the stove.

What had Saeko seen in him that she had missed? What could he have done to evoke such a devotion in the most stubborn, wound up woman she had ever met?

 _'Color me impressed, Shirou.'_

"Alright, it's ready," he announced, oblivious to the exchange that took place in the next room.

He came out of the kitchen carrying two trays covered in plates, juggling them effortlessly.

Both women's eyes widened at the variety of plates displayed. They both thought he was whipping up an ordinary dinner, something simple that even a child could make, but this looked like an high quality buffet.

"O-oi Shirou... when did you order take-outs?"

"Huh? What are you on about, Yoruichi-san?" he asked.

"You can't expect me to believe you made this stuff."

"I thought I told you I like cooking. I have been doing it three times a day for over five years now. Besides, you've been living here for weeks. Even though you never came for meals, how did you manage to never notice?"

Embarrassed, Yoruichi scratched her cheek sheepishly. "I wasn't exactly interested in your cuisine, you know?"

"Yeah, no kidding," he snorted. "Dig in before it gets cold. Itadakimasu."

"Itadakimasu!" the two women echoed before getting their own shares of food.

No words were exchange afterwards. Dinner proceeded in religious silence, although it couldn't be said there was peace either. In fact, a silent war was going on between Saeko and Yoruichi to get the most food onto their plates without looking like they were gorging themselves. That's how good Shirou's cuisine turned out to be.

Shirou took the silence as a sign of approval and enjoyed his own meal without knowing exactly how impressed his guests were.

Half a hour later, two thoroughly satisfied women sat nursing their stuffed stomachs.

"It was all exceptional, Shirou. Thank you very much," Saeko complimented.

"Yeah, I guess that all the time you spent in the kitchen wasn't wasted", Yoruichi agreed with a toothpick held between her lips.

Before he could acknowledge their gratitude, they heard the front door open and close, followed by loud steps approaching rapidly.

"Ohayo, Shirou!" Taiga greeted cheerfully. "I have finished early. Oh? Who are these people, Shirou?" she asked, tilting her head quizzically.

"Ah. This is Busujima-sensei and her friend, Shihōin-san. They were passing by and I invited them to stay for dinner since."

"Pleased to meet you both," Taiga bowed. "Thank you for taking care of Shirou, Busujima-san."

"Not at all," Saeko smiled politely. "It was my pleasure to have Shirou as my disciple."

Yoruichi chortled, and nearly burst out laughing when Saeko glared at her.

"That's a relief. Shirou is a good kid but he can be unreasonably stubborn at times."

"You are one to talk," he mumbled but only Yoruichi heard him. It did little to placate the laughter she was suppressing. "Since you are home early, Taiga, have a seat. I've saved your share."

"Oooh? I knew I could count on you," the ecstatic teacher praised, sitting next to Yoruichi. A moment later, she was happily eating through her dinner.

"Hm, Busujima-san," she said between mouthfuls, "how is Shirou doing? He's very reserved and he's always vague when I ask."

"Is he now?" Saeko asked, giving him an amused look. "There's already nothing left I can teach him. For all intents and purposes, his swordsmanship has already surpassed mine."

Taiga nearly choked on her food. "Wha-? Seriously?"

"That's not true, sensei," he objected. "You are still much stronger than me."

"That's because I have the advantage of a longer reach and greater height, but if we are talking about pure techniques I am no longer your match."

"Whoa! Shirou, that's incredible," Taiga said, completely flabbergasted.

"And how is Shirou doing in school?" Saeko asked in turn. "I hope he's not letting his grades slip because he's too focused on his training."

"Well, no," Taiga blinked, "actually he's the top student in his year."

They were all staring at him now and he couldn't help but blush under the combined attention.

"So," Yoruichi drawled, somewhere between impressed and amused, "top student, genius swordsman and professional level cook. You sure don't do things by halves, uh?"

Even Saeko who knew just how talented and drive he was looked suitably impressed.

"Can we talk about something more interesting?" he pleaded, clearly uncomfortable. His fidgeting made the gathered women grin.

His reactions were just too cute. One couldn't help but wanting to tease him even more. An impromptu alliance was made at the expense of the hapless aspirant hero, which culminated in a hour of merciless discussion about him and his quirks.

Nothing was said that couldn't be considered as praise by most people, but by the end of it Shirou felt like he had come down with a fever from how long he had been blushing.

"Well, it has been nice but I should really get going," Yoruichi decided after a while. Don't bother getting up, Shirou."

"Thanks for dropping by, Yoruichi-san." he nodded.

"Eh. Thank you for dinner. I'll see you around. You too Fujimura-san."

"I should get going as well," Saeko agreed. "It was nice meeting you, Fujimura-sensei. Thank you for the excellent meal Shirou. I will see you again soon."

"Have a safe trip you two," the teacher waved cheerfully. "Man, where did those beauties come out from, huh?"

"Did you say something?" Shirou asked as he stood up to put away the last dishes.

"... no, nothing."

Shirou shrugged and went about his business. Talking to herself was the less weird thing Taiga could do, so he didn't pay it any mind.

However, while Shirou wasn't looking, Taiga sized her own breasts and let out a disappointed sigh.

"A defeat on all fronts, huh?"

In the end, some battles weren't meant to be won, no matter how hard one struggled.

* * *

XXX

* * *

AN: What's this? An update so soon? You betcha.

Consider this a token of appreciation for all those people who chose to support me on p atreon. Remember, more patronage means more and faster content. Take a look if you're interested on p atreon [dotCOM] / ichaichasennin

Also, don't forget to visit and subscribe to my blog to read my stories earlier.

Next update is going to be in 4 weeks.

See you all soon.


	10. 0010

AN: Remember when I said that the next update would take four weeks? I lied.

* * *

 **[EMIYA SHIROU]  
** **[THE GAMER]  
** **[LV 25 - 1300/25000]  
** **[HP: 2500][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 810 ][SP: 10]  
** **[STR: 41][DEX: 42][INT: 22][WIS: 33][CHR: 77]**

* * *

Shirou followed Yoruichi's indications to reach the place where her organization had a base of operations.

Because of the Japanese streets-naming conventions, going anywhere was fairly complicated, even if one had a GPS. It was why Shirou had done so many Quests related to giving people directions.

It was the reason why he had to ask directions himself this time. However, now that the positions were inverted he was having a very difficult time. For some reason, people just weren't willing to help him.

It wasn't that they didn't know the way, simply they didn't want to tell him. Because he had such a high Wisdom, he could pick the cues in body language and wording to figure out as much.

What was the meaning of this? Some kind of compulsion cast on unassuming citizens to keep the location a secret?

That's what he suspected at first, though it made little sense. What kind of arbitrary security would make ordinary people unable to speak rather than just wiping their memories?

It became even more confusing, as the afternoon turned into the evening. As the type of crowd changed, so did their reactions at his inquiry. Some looked amused and some other simply shook their head and left.

Eventually, he managed to ferret out enough information to find the block where it was situated and then he understood why he had a hard time telling him, a kid, how to get in this place.

Fuyuki's small albeit lively red light district.

To be completely honest, Shirou knew little about such areas, other than they catered to the baser desires of men and women alike. He didn't fully grasp how far that went, though.

Even with high INT and WIS, relative to his age, Shirou didn't know what he didn't know. He only had vague impressions about what certain establishments did for a living. The only thing the he knew for certain was that someone his age shouldn't be anywhere near them.

No wonder then that upstanding citizens wouldn't want to help him get there.

No wonder then that Yoruichi was so damn amused at the prospect of sending him there. He was ready to bet anything that she was following him, having a giggle at how flustered he was as he firmly stared at his feet in order not to look around too much.

It didn't help when a few gorgeous girls approached to ask him if he was lost and needed help to find his way. Even his charisma got in the way as they find him just too cute to let him go. Their words, not his.

Eventually, one of those women decided to accompany him to his destination, apparently believing that he was looking for his mother who worked in the red light district.

Since that made everything much simpler he did not bother denying her assumption.

Finally they stood before a building with bright neon lights. The name on the signboard was the same as on the card that Yoruichi had given him. It read "Velvet Room."

"Here we are," the woman told him. "Do you need me to go in and look for your mom?"

"Ah, no. That won't be necessary. You have been plenty helpful already. I'm in your debt, Mizuki-san," he said bowing deeply, which made the woman giggle pleasantly.

"You're such a dear, Shirou-chan," she replied lightheartedly. "If you ever need help again around these parts, make sure to look for this oneesan again, okay?"

"I will do that. Thank you," he said still bowing. She waved him goodbye and he waved back until she disappeared through the ever growing crowd. Then, he took a steadying breath and pushed open the doors, stepping into the Velvet Room.

* * *

"I'm sorry, we're not open yet," the male receptionist said. He blinked in surprise as he didn't see anyone standing in front of the desk, then he lowered his gaze and saw the strangest sight to date.

A kid was standing right there, carrying a backpack on his shoulders with a long stick wrapped in white cloth strapped to its side.

"Huh. You got lost or something kid?" he asked. "You shouldn't be here."

"Probably not," he agreed with aplomb, "but this is the place I'm supposed to be. I was told to ask for a Matsumoto Rangiku-san? Is she here?"

"Hm, she's here alright," the receptionist nodded, still somewhat taken aback. "She's your relative or something?"

"I don't believe we are related, no."

"Huh. Well, she's not receiving clients yet and you wouldn't qualify as one either way. I'm sorry, but I must ask you to leave."

"I'm here on behalf of Yoruichi-san."

The receptionist, who was about to come out from behind the desk stopped in his tracks.

"Yoruichi-san?" he asked warily. "About this tall? Dark skinned? A body to die for?"

"If I say yes to all three, promise you won't ever tell her that I did. She doesn't need any more ego boosts."

The receptionist smiled wryly. "Yeah, that's Yoruichi-san, alright. You're in the right place then. Wait a minute, I'll call Matsumoto right away."

He promptly picked up the phone and punched in a three digits number.

"Yo, Rangiku," he spoke casually, "I've got Yoruichi-san's latest acquisition right here. Come get him and don't be surprised by his size."

"She'll be down in a minute. Step inside and wait for her shorty," he jerked his thumb toward the door to the next room.

"Thank you, mister," the boy nodded in gratitude and moved right past him. He watched him go and shook his head in resignation. Yoruichi sure was cruel to send someone so young to die.

What a shame.

* * *

When he stepped into the main hall of the Velvet Room, a single area with several stages with poles on them (the purpose of which Shirou ignored) everything looked perfectly normal. He could see where the establishment took its name. Other than the hardwood floor and furniture, everything was covered by garish, purple velvet.

There were people moving about, setting things up for the proper opening later. Beautiful girls in succinct clothing where chatting with each other, sparing him only a curious glance when they passed him by. It was a weird experience for him, but everything was still normal.

Then she came.

 **[Matsumoto Rangiku]  
** **[Lv. ?]**

She wore a black dress with cuts on both sides so deep that when she took a step he could see her leg from the tip of her high-heels shoes all the way up to her wide hips. Only a thin line of cloth suggested that she wore something under it, but if the size of it was any indication, that too probably covered the bare minimum. The dress continued further up to her shoulders, but it could have not bothered from how much of her cleavage it left exposed.

And what cleavage it was.

Saeko and Yoruichi were both endowed in a way that put the average Japanese girl out of the competition altogether, but Matsumoto Rangiku put them downright to shame.

Then, as if her impossible curves weren't already enough to make the mind of most men pack up and leave for shores unknown, she had to have the most piercing blue eyes encased on a refined face, framed by long blonde hair. A white scarf around her neck gave just enough color contrast to make it impossible for anyone not to notice her.

Fortunately, Shirou had yet to hit the brunt of his hormonal stage or he would have ended up making a fool out of himself. Thankfully, being aware that this was yet again a woman whose level dwarfed his own made him divert his thoughts from the way she looked to the reason why he was there in the first place.

Her pretty face crinkled into a frown when her eyes settled on him. An expression that quickly melted into a small smile.

"And you are?" she asked.

"I'm Emiya Shirou," he replied bowing lightly. "Would you happen to be Matsumoto-san, perhaps?"

"The one and only," she confirmed. "So, you are Yoruichi's latest victim. I must say, I would have expected someone a bit more... fearsome from someone she recommended."

"Things are often not as they look," Shirou replied, smiling amusedly. This was a woman whose beauty belied her power. She should know all about it. "Isn't it?"

She put a hand on her hip, cocking it to the side. The gesture made the length of her leg show from the cut in her dress. Through superhuman willpower, Shirou did not look.

"That's certainly the case," she promptly agreed. "Well, no point in talking about it. She sent you here for a reason. Follow me, Shirou-kun. Can I call you that, by the way?"

"Of course, Matsumoto-san," he nodded.

"So polite. You might even become my favorite," she said. "If you survive long enough."

Well, wasn't that ominous?

She turned around and started walking. Shirou followed after her, once again looking down at his feet. Some people could feel when they were being started at and Shirou didn't want to ogle her. Not if she knew, at least.

She led him in the back of the building, where a big elevator was located. They stepped inside and Matsumoto pushed the only two buttons in a certain combination. The door shut close and the elevator started going down, even though according to the panel there was no floor beneath this.

They descended for a long time and by the feeling of acceleration he got, they were going relatively fast as well. Wherever it was that this elevator went, it was very deep down.

"So, how did you and Yoruichi met exactly?" she asked jovially. In spite of her stunning beauty, Matsumoto seemed to be fairly laid-back as a person.

"I'm not sure I'm at liberty to discuss the circumstances," he replied as politely as he could.

"You must be a very nice young man," Matsumoto said, shaking her head. "Very patient too."

"What makes you say that?"

"Anyone who has known Yoruichi for longer than a few hours and survived to tell the tale would be sufficiently annoyed with her to not bother with keeping her privacy."

Shirou made a complicated expression. It wasn't like he could refute Matsumoto's words, after all.

"She's peculiar, I can agree with that. Still, she's not a bad person."

Matsumoto snorted amusedly.

"How old are you exactly, Shirou-kun?"

"I'm going to turn eleven in a few months," he tilted his head. "Why?"

"Nothing. I can see why she thought you were interesting, though," she replied looking down at him.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that," he told her sincerely.

Matsumoto smiled warmly and leaned forward to ruffle his hair, nearly touching her forehead to his from how close their faces were. It took him a lot of effort not to look down her dress. Her mesmerizing eyes made it a little bit easier.

"Scant few people ever bother to look for what's beneath the surface, Shirou-kun. Someone so young having such a deep insight is a peculiar existence of its own. Is that how a Magus is supposed to be, I wonder."

"I wouldn't know," he forced his dry mouth to form words. "I'm the only living Magus I know."

"Oh?" Matsumoto said, straightening up. "A bit removed from your sort, I see. That would explain why Yoruichi thought you'd fit in with us instead."

"Don't you usually get along with Magi?" he asked as he fixed his hair.

"Magi don't get along even with each other from what I understand. I suppose It is only natural considering how important to them is keeping their craft into their own family, but that habit often translate in looking down on others on a principle. Regardless, there aren't that many this far East to begin with."

"I see," he replied noncommittally. He already knew that Magi were a stiff bunch from what Kiritsugu had been willing to tell him about them, but Matsumoto painted a more vivid picture. Whether it was accurate or not, it remained to be seen.

Finally, the elevator stopped and the door slid open.

Shirou felt nauseous. Mana in this place was so thick it felt like breathing water. This place had to be very close to the leyline or even inside of it.

Matsumoto stepped out and Shirou followed after her, trying to keep the discomfort from showing on his face.

They were in a cavern, dimly lit by fluorescent lights. It was relatively small, but at the end of it there was a decorated wooden door, much like one would expect from a western-style cafe. There was even a sign next to it.

 _\- Ahnenerbe -_

She pushed it open and soft ambient music came out.

It really was a cafe.

It was softly illuminated and it had a welcoming atmosphere. A few patrons were sitting at the tables, either alone or in company, but the sound of voices was naturally low.

"Come take a seat, Shirou," Matsumoto said, gesturing him toward a table.

"What place is this?" he asked as he set down his backpack and pulled out a seat. "Why is there a cafe this far underground?"

"Beats me," she replied cheerfully. "To the best of my knowledge, the Ahnenerbe has always been here in one form or another. You should think of it as a point of juncture. A place where those who can't meet under ordinary circumstances can find each other. Also, it's a passageway between our world and the Abyss."

"Excuse me? The Abyss?"

She nodded. "I suppose someone brought up on the precepts of Magi wouldn't know about it. Think of it as the layer underneath our reality. The plane of existence where spiritual beings hail from and where the advancement of mankind has pushed them back to."

A chill went down Shirou's spine and he nearly jumped from his chair. The best he could do was keep himself from shouting.

"A place like that can be accessed at will?"

"Through specific points of contact such as this, it can," she confirmed.

"What's keeping those creatures from coming back to this side through it, then?" he pressed on.

"We are," she replied easily. "That's our job. Now, I don't want to make it sound like it's a bigger deal than what it actually is. By far and large, human denial today makes a good enough job at keeping them out as it did in giving them life in the past. Largely we deal with newborn entities and the accumulations of human emotions given shape. Weak things but closer to the surface then the rest."

"I see," he replied, clearly shocked. He knew in theory that this place existed. Things like Gods and Phantasmal Beasts hadn't just died. They had been merely pushed away from tangible reality as the world progressively decayed and human consciousness started actively denying their existence. They had left, yes, but they were not gone.

"They do get out sometimes, though," he observed.

"It's inevitable. These are naturally occurring phenomenons and there's more than one point of juncture. Some are closer to the surface than this. However, those places are usually ancestral lands guarded by people who have made it their families' purpose to put down anything that comes out."

"Like the Busujima clan," he observed.

"Ah, yes. Yoruichi told me that you were a practitioner of their style. Yes, that's exactly one of such places. However, that is but a small fissure where the spirits can emerge in great numbers only when the conditions are right, whereas this place is a huge chasm. If it wasn't guarded, anything could climb up and rampage in the real world at any time."

"And you said it wasn't a big deal," he deadpanned.

"It is an important job, but it's not complicated. Come, I'll better show you. I'm sorry George, we'll order something on our way back," she said to the man behind the counter, who just nodded in confirmation as he kept wiping wine glasses.

They went for another door, completely identical to the one they came in from. They went through it and they were back in the Red Light district. At least, it would have been it if the colors hadn't lost much of their luster and there was no crowd filling the streets. There were just a few people milling about here and there.

"What is this?" he asked, looking around.

"We call it the Mirror World," she replied. "The first layer of the Abyss. All heavily populated areas are reflected in here almost faithfully."

"Huh, it wouldn't be from the shared experience of all the people that live there, would it?" he guessed.

"That's a Magus for you," she snorted. "Yes. Cumulative human consciousness not only gives birth to spiritual entities, it has also actively shapes this place. However, once you go somewhere where people don't dwell much there's no guarantee of what you'll find. Those places are the most dangerous and it's better to stay away from them."

"I see, and who are these other people?" he asked, gesturing to the few humans around.

"We claimed the Mirror Red Light District as our base of operation and we keep it safe and fortified. Anything that wants to go up in the real world would have to go through all of us first."

"All of this is incredible. Are those shops actually open?" he asked, pointing at some buildings.

"A few people have set up shop down here," she confirmed. "Mostly they sell weapons and armors crafted from whatever our people have been able to harvest from their kills. Which incidentally brings us to the reason why you're here. Yoruichi told us you were looking for a job."

"I am... what do you propose?" he asked. He had an idea of where this conversation was going, but he'd rather she explained it herself.

"Simply enough, we need people willing and able to fight. We periodically send out groups to thin out the spirits that form continously. It's a dangerous job and people can get easily wounded and killed. Strictly speaking, there's always a shortage of manpower. Do you think you have what it takes?"

Well, he hadn't come down here to see the sights, that was for certain. Moreover, there was just no way he could turn his back when he had been told that people were risking their lives and getting hurt without him doing anything to help.

"Of course," he nodded firmly.

"Good. However, you can't join our ranks just like that. Our people constantly put their lives into each other's hands. We need to know you are capable before we can trust you with our backs."

"I see, that makes sense," he quickly agreed. Whether it was mundane or supernatural business, competence and reliability were paramount. "What do I have to do?"

As an answer, Matsumoto put her hand between her breasts and pulled out a gem-like object of a blue-silver color about the size of an egg.

"This is a Mana Core," she explained handing it over to him. "It's the heart of any creature you'll find down here, whether they have an actual heart or not. Bigger and more powerful beings will have bigger cores as well, but there aren't any of them within Mirror Fuyuki. Go out there and bring ten of these back to me. That way I'll know that you can handle yourself."

Shirou stared at the object intently with his Gamer Eyes.

 **[Mana Core]  
** **[Description: A crystal made of solid Mana. Can be sold, used for Crafting or consumed]  
** **[Restores up to 100MP]**

 _'Holy shit!'_ he thought. Something like this was absolutely priceless. Mana in solid form that can be consumed to restore one's reserves? In a world where Magi down their luck sold their Mana enriched blood for money, something like this was worth more than its weight in gold.

"So? Are you going to do it or what?"

 **[NEW QUEST: Initiation Ritual]  
** **[Gather 10 Mana Cores and bring them to Matsumoto]  
** **[Reward for Failure: Get kicked out of the Mirror World - Reward for Success: 5000 EXP, Relationship with MATSUMOTO RANGIKU: +1000, ?]  
** **[ACCEPT]  
** **[Y/N]**

"You bet!" he answered, thus accepting the Quest.

* * *

 **Thirty minutes later.**

Shirou stood in front of the barricade that separated the Red Light district from the rest of Mirror Fuyuki. Before going out he equipped himself with the things he had brought for the occasion.

The previous day he went to a sport shop and bought a set of shin guards like those used in hockey and a set of gauntlets like those used in archery for both arms. The clerk had looked at him oddly but didn't say anything.

They offered little in the way of protection, but it was better than nothing. Besides there was nothing better a kid could buy. Even cheap armor replica didn't come in his size. He had to make do with them.

The shin guards gave him a 50 point reduction in DMG received and the gauntlets 25. At least, they didn't get in the way of his mobility.

He had half expected Matsumoto to laugh at his getup, but instead she commended his foresight, saying that a little protection was better than none at all.

With that, she escorted him to the castle-like gates and instructed the guards to let him through. Thus he stepped into Mirror Fuyuki, ready to face whatever lurked out there.

* * *

Matsumoto watched the gate as it closed behind Emiya Shirou. In truth she was quite worried. It was a dangerous world out there, full of creatures that defied human logic. She had lost plenty of friends in this line of work and she wasn't sure that a kid not yet eleven would fare much better, no matter how talented he was.

Still, there was nothing she could do. It was swim or sink in this line of job and if he couldn't accomplish a simple task as this it was only a matter of time before he lost his life.

All she could do now was wait and hope for the best.

* * *

Shirou carefully ventured forward, firmly holding his sword. He didn't particularly fancy walking around with a blade unsheathed, but not knowing what type of creatures he would find and what they were capable of, he'd rather not have to waste precious seconds.

For a while, everything was quiet, then a message prompt appeared.

 **[Unnatural Presence detected]  
** **[Direction: 3 o'clock - Distance: 50 meters]**

Great, there was something nearby. Not that Shirou could see it since there were buildings in the way.

He slowly made his way in that direction, trying to make as little noise as possible. As he approached, the position and distance of this presence on the message prompt changed accordingly.

Finally, he stood at a corner, with the distance measuring just in a few meters.

With his back against the wall, he glanced behind the corner.

There was purple blob of goo in the middle of the street. It wobbled quietly without making noise and Shirou wouldn't have known what it was if not for his Gamer Eyes.

 **[Slime]  
** **[Lv. 15]**

 _'Slime? Seriously?'_ he thought. _'What's this, a videogame?'_

Even though he was a game character, that was limited to himself. Whatever this slime was, it couldn't be the same thing as those found in games. He needed to be careful.

However, he didn't know how to be careful to begin with. This thing had no eye that he could tell. How did it perceive its surroundings? Could he ambush it somehow? He had no clue whatsoever.

He observed it for a few minutes, but it did nothing except wobble in place. It would probably keep doing that until it was given a reason to do something different.

With no other available course of action, Shirou stepped out of cover with his sword at the ready.

Immediately, the wobbling intensified. The creature was undoubtedly aware of his presence. It started to inch toward him extremely slowly, just a few inches per second. At this rate, it would take a quarter of a hour before he got anywhere close to him.

Shirou tentatively took a step forward and then another. If this thing was this slow then he could easily use hit and run tactics.

Just as he thought that a tendril of goo shot out extremely fast. Shirou had barely time to move that it went through the space he just vacated with a whipping noise.

"Shit!" he exclaimed as he finished rolling on the ground and returned to his feet. He started circling the creature, dodging the tendrils that shot out every now and then.

The slime was fast, but not faster than him. Thank goodness he had developed good dexterity otherwise he would have been already hit several times.

Now more or less confident that he could outmaneuver it, Shirou leaned forward. When the next tendril shot out he crouched under it and used the motion to propel himself forward against the slime.

Shisui flashed and went through the slime's body with splat. After he made contact, Shirou immediately jumped back, avoiding the tendrils that shot at his position.

He had yet to get out of the creature's range that the cut he had made sealed itself shut.

 **[CRITICAL HIT!]**

 **[NO DAMAGE]**

"Are you kidding me?" he shouted. "Don't tell me it's immune from physical attacks?"

It made sense. It was a shapeless mass of goo, after all. Why would making a hole in it hurt it any? If that was the case, he needed to find a different type weapon. Failing that, he'd just have to run.

No... that wasn't acceptable. There was no guarantee that anything else out there would be easier to deal with than this. Right there and then he had to figure a way to prevail, otherwise would he just keep on running?

Shirou stood his ground, resuming his stance. He had no idea what could harm this creature. All he had available was his skills and his sword. By extension, all he could do was using them to the max.

"That immunity of yours... I'll see just how far it goes."

A tentacle shot out at him again and Shirou dodged once more. This time, however, he slashed at it while it was extended severing it abruptly.

The slime didn't make any sound but jerked violently as a part of it was severed away. The smaller part that Shirou cut away splattered on the ground, but immediately it started slithering around, heading towards the main body, where they rejoined seamlessly.

"Is that how it is?" he asked, rhetorically. "Fine. Let's see how you like this!"

He stepped forward at the top of his speed, slashing the slime as he passed it by. Then without stopping he repeated the attack. Again and again and again and again.

The paradigm of the battle had changed. Shirou was giving his all in attacking and the slime did everything it could to undo the damage Shirou inflicted. Because he was so much faster, Shirou was cut it faster than the slime could fix itself. However, there was seemingly no limit to the creature's regenerative ability. Shirou would have the upper hand only as long as he had stamina to spend.

He was about to reconsider this tactic when he caught a glimpse of something shiny inside the slime's body. Recognizing it for what it was Shirou focused his flurry around the spot and quickly snatched it before stepping away for good.

The slime started to jerk violently in all directions for several seconds, before finally losing all its consistency and melt down into a watery substance.

 **[Slime defeated - Exp gained: 150]**

Shirou opened his hand and saw the Mana Core that he had stolen from the slime's body.

"So, that's how you do it," he exhaled in relief, a feeling of satisfaction swelled into his chest.

He looked at his status bar and noticed that he had consumed about 50 points of stamina of his 810 available. It wasn't a huge amount, but it wasn't small one either. Supposing that he'd face nine more slimes to get the rest of the Mana Cores he needed, that meant another 450 points he was going to consume.

However, now that he knew their weakness he could probably do it more efficiently, so it was probably going to be a little less than that. Still, that was just assuming that everything would go right and that he wouldn't meet anything other than slimes. He'd rather prepare for the worst. Besides, it would cost him next to nothing.

He put down his backpack and pulled a small, round package out of it. Opening it, he revealed an onigiri. One of his own making.

He quickly ate it.

 **[45ST restored]**

Who would have thought that his cooking skill could be so useful on the battlefield? He definitely had to look into different skills later.

Putting his backpack on again, he set out to look for more monsters.

* * *

Three hours had passed since Matsumoto had seen Shirou off. She was currently sitting in the Ahnenerbe, drinking a cup of sake. It wasn't her first that evening and her cheeks were slightly red as result.

In truth, she was about to give up on ever seeing Shirou again. Three hours wasn't a long stretch of time to be out hunting, but every first timer that survived their baptism made at least a couple of trips back to recuperate their strength before going out again.

At this point, the poor kid had probably been killed and devoured. If he was lucky, it happened in that order.

She was thinking so, when the door opened and that same kid walked in.

"Ah. Matsumoto-san. There you are."

"Shirou... kun?" she asked, thinking that she was hallucinating again from drinking too much. "You made it back."

"And I've got your ten Mana Cores," he added cheerfully, dropping them on her table.

"So I see," she replied, sobering up a little. "I must say, I didn't expect you to be this fast. So, how did you like your first hunt?"

He took a seat in front of her.

"Tough. I mean, slimes are relatively simple to kill once you get the gist of it, but they still take time to track down."

"Eh," she grinned. "How long did it take you to figure they are weak to fire?"

"...wait. That's their weakness?" he asked, looking surprised.

"Of course," she nodded, looking just as surprised as him at his response. "How did you kill them if you didn't use fire? Magecraft?"

"I... just cut them," he explained sheepishly.

"They are immune to physical damage," she deadpanned.

"Yeah, I figured that much on my own. I just carved them open faster than they could repair themselves and stole their Mana Cores."

Matsumoto looked straight at him, trying to figure whether or not she was pulling her chain. Then, not seeing any trace of dishonesty on his innocent face, she felt her stomach start to shake and laughter bubble up her throat and out of her pretty mouth.

She laughed heartily for a while as he looked at her quizzically with his big golden eye. That puppy-like expression only made her laugh harder.

Finally, she dried the tears that had pooled at the corner of her eyes and recomposed herself.

"My goodness. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. You are the first person I've ever heard of that killed a monster immune to physical attacks with physical attacks without doing them any actual damage. I suppose you are the stubborn type, aren't you?"

Shirou scratched his cheek sheepishly. "I guess I can be a bit stubborn at times."

Matsumoto shook her head in disbelief. Wasn't this kid just a bit too much? If he could pull off things like these at this age what kind of monster would he be when got older?

Regardless of that, she couldn't help but think that it would be a fun thing to witness.

"Well, then. I suppose you did prove yourself to be good enough for us. Congratulations, Shirou-kun," she said as she slid him a badge with a stylized skull on it. "I officially bid you welcome to our Soul Society."

* * *

 **[QUEST: Initiation Ritual COMPLETE]**

 **[5000 EXP gained, Relationship with MATSUMOTO RANGIKU: +1000, Proof of Membership (Soul Society) acquired]**

* * *

XXX

* * *

AN: aaaad CUT!

This is a good place as any to call it quits.

Alright, I'm sure you'll have plenty of questions. Where is all this coming from?

For those who are not familiar with the extended Nasuverse, the Reverse Side of the World does exist canonically, although not too much is said about it. I gave it my own twist by adding a "guild" made by people with supernatural abilities with different backgrounds and called it Soul Society because I already borrowed two characters from the franchise. As for the Velvet Room, that too is just a shout out to the Persona series without any other significance.

I repeat, this is NOT a CROSSOVER. I'm merely borrowing names, characters and their overall characterization to the story, simply because the characters from the Fate franchise are difficult to move around as I please without making hundreds of thousands words of explanation to justify it.

For those who are dubious about how this plays into the Fate universe (in this story) don't worry. All explanations will come in due time.

As usual, thanks to all those who left a review and even bigger thank you to all those that subscribed to my blog and got to read this chapter in advance for their trouble (you should think about it). Look for it at ichasennin word press [dotCOM]. It has pictures.

However, the biggest thank you of all goes to those who decided to support me by making a pledge at (p atreon [dotCOM] / ichaichasennin.

Alright, this time for real the next update is going to be in four weeks, with the long awaited Taiga scene.


	11. 0011

**[EMIYA SHIROU]**

 **[THE GAMER]**

 **[LV 25 - 7800/25000]**

 **[HP: 2500][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 810 ][SP: 10]**

 **[STR: 41][DEX: 42][INT: 22][WIS: 33][CHR: 77]**

* * *

After successfully completing the Quest to retrieve ten Mana Cores, Matsumoto decided to show Shirou around their base. This was both to introduce him to his new coworkers and at the same time to show him the facilities available to the members of Soul Society.

Most people found the idea of a ten-years-old having passed the admittance test intriguing, but not overly much. After all, they lived in a world of supernatural beings and weird occurrences that most of humanity considered fictitious. In a way, they were themselves peculiar existences and they had long since left behind concepts such as normality.

That is not to say that everyone welcomed him with open arms. Capable or not, his age meant that his experience was limited, even if his individual ability was abnormal. In short, being admitted to the group and gaining their individual trust were two separate matters altogether.

That was fine though. Shirou had not gone through the trouble of joining this group to win anyone's recognition. As long as he could help he was fine with mostly everything.

Matsumoto seemed to find this utter disregard somewhat amusing but didn't comment on it.

The Mirror Red Light district had been completely taken over by Soul Society. There were shops of all kinds, ranging from trivial things like restaurants to shops that catered to the supernatural. There was also a hotel that rented rooms on monthly basis and an Exchange Office, where one could change their Mana Cores into regular currency.

As she showed him this, Matsumoto returned the Mana Cores that Shirou had gathered.

"I thought you would have kept these," he told her.

"You got them, they are yours. I just had to make sure you have the chops. Go ahead and exchange them."

"Thank you," he nodded, approaching the office, where a girl in glasses manned the counter. He exchanged eight Mana Cores for 100,000 yen each, for a grand total of 800,000 yen.

Shirou balked at entirely excessive sum of money. His initial estimate of their worth was off by a wide margin.

"This is crazy," he told Matsumoto after they left the office. "To be able to gain this much just from a little work is insane."

"It is a very dangerous line of work, Shirou-kun and Mana Cores are in high demand outside. By the way, I saw that you didn't sell all of them."

"Yes, well. I am a Magus after all. There's all sort of stuff I can do with these."

"Oh. Do you have some other skills you haven't told me about, Shirou-kun? How mean," she teased good-naturedly.

"Like I said, I am a Magus. Of course I have secrets I keep to myself."

"You don't strike me as the type to do research for the sake of it. So, I'll look forward to see anything you'll come up with around here. By the way, if you create something useful not for your exclusive use, you can probably sell it here," she said, pointing at the next shop on their tour

"Urahara Shōten?" he asked, looking at the unassuming building. "What kind of shop is it?"

"See for yourself," she replied, motioning for him to go inside. Shrugging he opened the door and did exactly that.

The inside of the shop was dimly lit and it had a shady atmosphere. It was the kind of place you'd expect from one dealing in suspicious stuff.

"Yo! Welcome, brat," the shopkeeper greeted cheerfully.

"... Yoruichi-san?" he asked bewildered. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, what does it look like I'm doing?" she asked back.

She was laying on her side upon the counter as if it was a couch. Fortunately, she was entirely clothed.

She wore a skintight black bodysuit with a green, jacket-like indument on her torso. All in all, it was something you'd expect a fictional ninja would wear in their time off.

"I'd say you're lazing about as usual," he deadpanned.

"Wow, he really got you figured out," Matsumoto agreed from behind him.

"I don't want to hear that from a drunkard like you," she snapped at the blonde bombshell, although one could tell there was no bite in it.

"Is this your shop?" he asked.

"Not really. I'm just looking over it for a friend who had to leave for a while," she replied.

"I see," he nodded. "The same friend you told me about that time?"

"Yep. Dumbass got himself into more trouble than he could deal with and had to pack in a hurry. He even left me his shop to run in his place."

"At least you finally got back and opened it," Matsumoto complained. "What have you been doing these past few weeks?"

"Oh. A bit of this and a bit of that. You know how it is."

"I see." She didn't. "And how did you come by Shirou-kun?"

"He didn't tell you?" she asked, glancing at him.

"He's got his lips welded shut on the topic."

"Then, there you have it," Yoruichi replied, matter-of-factly.

"Spoilsport," Matsumoto pouted. "Anyway, Shirou, this place trades in special equipment you can't buy elsewhere. Also, if come across anything that you don't need, you can sell it here."

"I got it. Is there anything in here that would fit me, by the way?"

"Nope, don't think so. We don't get much request for midget-size apparel."

"So. I guess I'm on my own when it comes down to protection, then. What about weaponry?"

"Ah. I think I can help you some there," Yoruichi swiftly threw her legs down the counter and disappeared behind it. She came back up with some kind of leather wrap, that she quickly unrolled over the counter.

It contained a dozen, sleek-looking throwing knives in pitch black color

 **[Black Sparrow]  
[DMG + 100]  
[Description: Once belonging to a famous assassin, this throwing knife is hard to detect and intercept. Being infused with high spiritual power, they are suitable to kill supernatural entities.  
[Returns to the user after use, whether it hits or misses. Requires: Master Throwing - Small Projectiles.]**

They appeared to be excellent weapons. However, that's not what interested him.

 **[As a result of a special action you have learned Basic Throwing - Small Projectiles]**

 **[Basic Throwing - Small Projectiles has reached Lv. 2]  
** **[Basic Throwing - Small Projectiles has reached Lv. 3]  
** **[Basic Throwing - Small Projectiles has reached Lv. 4]  
** **[Basic Throwing - Small Projectiles has reached Lv. 5]  
** **[Basic Throwing - Small Projectiles has reached Lv. 6]  
** **[Basic Throwing - Small Projectiles has reached Lv. 7]  
** **[Basic Throwing - Small Projectiles has reached Lv. 8]  
** **[Basic Throwing - Small Projectiles has reached Lv. 9]  
** **[Basic Throwing - Small Projectiles has reached Lv. 10]  
** **[...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...]**

 **[Basic Throwing has reached Lv. 100]  
[Basic Throwing - Small Projectiles has changed in Intermediate Throwing - Small Projectiles]  
** **[Intermediate Throwing - Small Projectiles has reached Lv. 2]  
** **[Intermediate Throwing - Small Projectiles has reached Lv. 3]  
** **[Intermediate Throwing - Small Projectiles has reached Lv. 4]  
** **[Intermediate Throwing - Small Projectiles has reached Lv. 5]  
** **[Intermediate Throwing - Small Projectiles has reached Lv. 6]  
** **[Intermediate Throwing - Small Projectiles has reached Lv. 7]  
** **[Intermediate Throwing - Small Projectiles has reached Lv. 8]  
** **[Intermediate Throwing - Small Projectiles has reached Lv. 9]  
** **[Intermediate Throwing - Small Projectiles has reached Lv. 10]  
** **[...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...][...]  
** **[Intermediate Throwin has reached Lv. 100]  
** **[Intermediate Throwing - Small Projectiles has changed in Master Throwing - Small Projectiles]  
** **[Master Throwing - Small Projectiles has reached Lv. 2]**

Even with just a glance at them, he got a new skill that skyrocketed to Master level in the blink of an eye. Of course, it was because they were technically blades that had been used by a Master assassin.

Still, the skill was [Throwing] as opposed to something more specific like Knife Throwing, or Stone Throwing. He supposed it was because there was little difference in how one threw a knife or a pebble. At least, not enough to warrant a separate skill for each.

' _Hold on.'_

' _Hold on a fucking minute.'_

He felt his throat turn suddenly dry.

"Shirou?" Yoruichi asked. "Are you alright?" Both she and Matsumoto were looking at him oddly.

"What? Oh, yes. Sorry, I just had a small realization right there. H-how much for the whole set?"

"The whole set, Shirou? Each knife is 200,000 Yen, you know."

"Two hundred... Alright. I'll take four then. Don't sell the rest. I'll come buy them in the next few days."

"It doesn't really work that way, but since I owe you, I'll do that. I'll keep them in the back until you come get them. You really do like them."

"Oh yes," Shirou nodded firmly. "I really do."

* * *

Shirou couldn't get home faster if he tried. There were a lot of things on his mind. Soul Society, the Reverse Side… he would have to think a lot about everything that transpired, but right there and then he had more pressing things to worry about.

It was well past midnight when he finally got back home.

He didn't even remove his shoes as he went to get a knife in the kitchen, before making a run for the toolshed, hastily locking himself inside.

 **[You have entered a special area]**

 **[Workshop]**

 **[While in this area, all of your spells cost half]**

He sat cross-legged and immediately fired up his Circuits.

"Trace On."

 **[Nerve Circuit Creation: Success]**

"Structural Analysis," he invoked upon the knife.

 **[Structural Analysis: Success]**

 **[Kitchen Knife]  
[DMG +10]  
[Description: an ordinary kitchen knife]**

Basic information about the knife flooded his mind at the same time as the prompt appeared. However, once again that wasn't what interested him

 **[Structural Analysis has reached Lv. 76 - 95%]**

Just now, his Structural Analysis had very nearly leveled up twice.

"I'm such a jackass," he whispered to himself. "Status! Skill List!" he called in rapid succession. He didn't really need to in order to interact with his Gamer Ability, but at that moment he just felt like he had.

With a mental command, the skill list browsed all the way down to what he was looking for.

 **[ELEMENT/SWORD]: You are naturally in tune with all things bladed. + 500% gains/success to all blade-related activities.**

 **[ORIGIN/SWORD]: You are naturally in tune with all things bladed. + 500% gains/success to all blade related-activities.**

 **[SWORD INCARNATION] Because of your aligned Origin and Element you are yourself a living sword. A further +1000% gains/success to all blade related activities is granted but a -90% penalty gain/success to all non-blade related Magecrafts is applied. Weapons' and armors' structure are permanently memorized with just a glance even without Structural Analysis. Mana cost for all Magecrafts is 1MP for blade and 4MP for all shields and armors regardless of item or spell level. All activities involving blades cost only 1ST.**

It was right there in front of his dumb eyes. A 2000% boost to all activities related to blades at the cost of a minus 90% penalty to every all non-blade related Magecraft.

He had understood correctly that his Magecraft skill would advance at only 10% of an unknown growth factor, but he failed to realize that both the bonus and the penalty would apply at the same time, if only he used blades as the focus.

Under that logic, if he used any Magecraft skill on a blade, the 90% penalty would be applied not on the unknown average factor as he had erroneously thought, but to the result of the application of his 2000% bonus.

Quickly doing the math, it mean that he actually had a 200% growth bonus when practicing Magecraft on a blade. And he only just noticed.

In the otherwise silent Workshop, the sound of the palm of his hand meeting his face echoed heard only by him. Just how many hours had he wasted practicing Magecraft only of it to advance of a single point percentile to the next level?

No wonder the [Cooking] skill leveled so erratically. It fluctuated depending on how often he used a knife in the process.

Having realized this, Shirou spent a few minutes collecting his mind.

"This is an exploit. A cheat," he concluded. "As long as I manage to involve a blade in an activity, the related skills can advance up to twenty times faster, though only twice as normal in regards to Magecraft."

 **[+1 INT for thinking things through]**

Somehow, this latest bonus sounded somewhat mocking, even to himself.

He also needed to take into account his very limited MP. With 35 points to his name, the best he could do was an equal amount of spells before he had to sleep and recover. However, he had just discovered a method to replenish his MP without wasting hours sleeping.

Starting the next day he would farm Mana Cores down in Mirror Fuyuki. That would solve both the problem of money and that of leveling Magecraft.

Soon enough, the monsters down there wouldn't even know what hit them anymore.

However, it still remained the fact that Shirou had grossly misunderstood his own ability. Eager to go out there and help people, he hadn't cared much for details. However, that made him waste a lot of valuable time.

Still, he wasn't one to cry over spilt milk. Before going to bed, he would exhaust his current MP and the next morning he would review his skills from scratch.

* * *

 **Elsewhere**

In the darkness of a certain room, the only thing that could be heard was the sound of ragged breathing and a soft buzzing noise.

"Hm. Ah!"

A pile of clothes laid discarded on the floor. Abandoned right where they had been removed.

"Ooh!"

On a bed nearby, the figure of a woman could be seen moving above the sheets.

"Ahhh!"

Pale legs twitched in the faint light coming through from the blinds, while slender fingers danced across the surface of her body.

"Ah! Ah!"

The smell of womanly arousal mixed with that of slight sweat filled the air.

"Yes! Hmmmm!"

Small yet supple breast jiggled as the body trembled in release. Legs tensed while her back arched sensually.

Finally, her body relaxed and Fujimura Taiga slumped on her bed bonelessly, breath still coming in sharp intakes.

Weakly she flipped a switch and the rotor which she had been pressing between her legs ceased to vibrate.

While she laid there, catching her breath, she wondered how in hell did she manage to get herself in such a situation.

The matter was simple, yet complex. Fujimura Taiga had reached recently the age at which she could be called a Christmas Cake. She was a twenty-five-year-old single lady

As a result of her family background and her explosive character, the otherwise attractive girl had grown into a lonely woman before she even noticed. By the standards of Japanese men, she was too old to be the object of any romantic interest.

Usually, she paid little mind to it, but recently the matter of her own age had become an annoying topic.

Why was that? Because there was finally someone who made her heart throb, a guy who was fifteen years younger than her.

To say that Taiga was ashamed of her own feelings would be an understatement, but as much as she suppressed them they were still present.

She had tried to get her mind off him by dating here and there, but the few times she managed to get past the hurdle of her old age, she found herself dealing with thoroughly boring men.

Perhaps they weren't exactly boring, per se, but at the very least they were completely unremarkable, while Taiga herself was an untamable spitfire. It was another strike against her in a society that preferred its women to be meek and humble.

It caused her to compare the few men she had dated, both recently and in the past, with Shirou. How could it be that a mere ten-year-old was more interesting than all the adults she knew? Rather than just letting the day-to-day routine drag him about like every salaryman was wont to do, he firmly seized his own purpose and chased after it with his head held high.

Taiga could not imagine what kind of future Shirou would build for himself, but certainly he would not just be swallowed by the masses.

In truth, Taiga had considered waiting for him to grow a few more years and then confessing her feelings for him, if she still had them by that point. However, when that time came she would be well over her thirties.

Besides, she didn't expect him to be single much longer.

Just not too long before, he had received a slew of love letters from his female classmates. Sure enough he turned them all down since he had no feelings for them, but that just went to show the kind of pull he had on the fairer sex.

Once he finally grew enough to care about girls, why would he even consider a spinster like her? Of course he wouldn't. She was an unrefined woman whose defining trait was her endless appetite. He'd never find her attractive. Never. Just like every other man.

Hence, she had to take care of the needs of her body on her own.

That wasn't the problem though. What tormented her was inability to escape her own twisted desires. To be honest, there were men she was physically attracted to, of course. From movie actors to underwear models and even people she knew in real life, there was an abundance of men she could and did fantasise about.

However, when she was there, right on the cusp of climaxing, the image that burst through her mind was not that of any of them, but rather of that one person closest to her that she she couldn't have not matter what.

Maybe… maybe as long as it was just in the realm of fantasy she could indulge herself without guilt.

At least, that's what she told herself.

* * *

 **[You have slept in a bed. HP, MP and ST are fully restored]**

Shirou woke up to the prompt hovering in front of his vision as usual. Once he acknowledged it, it collapsed upon itself freeing his vision.

He smoothly got up from his futon and changed into his clothes for the day. It was four-thirty in the morning and he had ample time before Taiga would come for breakfast. Enough time to get said breakfast going and examine the power from his Gamer Eyes from scratch.

He got himself a notepad and a pencil to write down anything that could come up that would require experimentation at a later time. Since his INT was very high for his age, he was unlikely to forget stuff, but why take chances?

As he worked on breakfast, a task that no longer required him to put any attention in it at this level of difficulty, he eyed the Main Menu provided by his Gamer Eyes

 **[STATUS]  
** **[INVENTORY]  
** **[EQUIPMENT]  
** **[SKILL LIST]  
** **[QUESTS]  
** **[REPUTATION]**

For the longest time he hadn't used most of it. In fact he rarely called it out at all. Save for the couple of instances when he had to allocate the PTs he got from leveling up he basically forgot about it entirely. Strictly speaking, other than the STATUS submenu he never needed it.

He didn't care much about his reputation and with the exception of Saeko's Quest it had never been relevant at all. He always finished the Quest he started, so he had no need of the submenu that listed them.

He thought he recalled his Skill and Titles perfectly so he never went looking for them after he first acquired them, so that too had been neglected.

He never needed the Equipment submenu much, since until recently equipment hadn't been a factor at all. Only with Saeko's gifting of her family's sword and his introduction to the Reverse Side the subject had started to become something to pay attention to.

However, the most mysterious of all the submenus was without a doubt the Inventory. As far as Shirou could tell, it did absolutely nothing. At first he thought it would list the things he had on his person, as useless as that sounded, however it didn't even do that. He tried to put things in his pocket to see whether or not they would show up in it, but they didn't. Even his clothes didn't show in there, though they did in the Equipment menu.

It was just as series of lines that he supposed would have to list stuff, but he had no clue how to add them to it. As he didn't know what it did, he couldn't command it mentally as he could for the other aspects of his power. Therefore he tried to fiddle it using his hands.

Nothing he did seemed to cause a reaction, at least not until he used the hand which held the ladle he was using to prepare breakfast. Once it touched the menu window there was a flash of light and his hand was suddenly empty.

"What the hell?" he asked. "Where has it gone? … Are you kidding me?"

There it was, sure enough, listed as part of his Inventory

 **[Common ladle (well used)] [x001]**

Shirou blinked several times as he let what transpired sink in. After checking himself to make sure the ladle wasn't anywhere on his person, he accepted the situation for what it was.

He tapped on the ladle's line in the menu and a smaller window popped up.

 **[Examine]  
[Take out]  
** **[Equip]**

He chose [Take out] and the ladle dropped out from the menu clattering on the kitchen counter-top.

Shirou couldn't say anything. There wasn't anything he could say that would match the sheer bullshit of the situation. He just figure he had a pocket space as his own personal storage room. The implications were astounding. He needed to figure out what were the limits of this ability in detail, because it was a game changer (pun intended) even more so than his Blade Boost.

However, there was nowhere enough time to try it out to its fullest before that evening, after he was done with his daily Quests. Even if the face of these recent developments, helping people still took precedence.

* * *

 **Late afternoon**

Recently a heat wave swept across the city, even though it was only spring. Fuyuki city was generally warmer than average year-round on account of it being by the sea and because of the numerous leylines that run under the city.

Most people didn't know about the latter, of course, but they felt the heat all the same.

Fujimura Taiga was no exception.

"Fuaah!" she sighed, throwing her arms up and dropping on the tatami floor of her room. "What's with this damn heat? It's not even May yet."

Of course, that outburst did little to help her feeling any less hot. The fan that was spinning at full power by her side did not help much in that regard either, even though she was already wearing shorts and a strap shirt. The downside of living in a traditional Japanese building meant that modern air conditioning wasn't really a working solution.

Thus, Taiga was forced to suffer the heat without possibility of escape. To make things worse, she was bored out of her skull and there was nothing to take her mind off the heat. When she dropped by Shirou's place earlier she found that he wasn't home. He was probably off to help people around town as he was wont to do.

Seriously, how in hell he could even more around in this heat was a mystery in and of itself.

Ah, well. She could still mooch off him even if he wasn't home.

With that decision made she left her house and made her way to his place. As his legal guardian, she had the key of his house so she could come and go as she pleased. Dropping her sandals at the entrance as custom dictated, she made her way barefooted to his living room. He still hadn't returned, so she helped herself to the content of his fridge.

It was his fault for leaving it unguarded after all.

* * *

Shirou's afternoon had been very dull. With the sudden heat, there were very few people around and by extension few quests for him to complete. It was barely mid-afternoon and he was already returning home.

Much to his surprise, he found the door unlocked. Since he didn't expect a thief to break into his house during the day and that Yoruichi probably didn't use the door anyway, the unexpected guest could only be Taiga. He knew he was correct when he saw her sandals at the entrance. Removing his shoes, he made his way to the living room and surely there she was, waiting for him.

"Sllrrp... Ohayou, Shirou," she greeted him as laid on her stomach watching TV with the stick of a popsicle between her teeth.

"Hey, Taiga. I see you made yourself at home."

"Yup," she agreed shamelessly. "How was your afternoon?"

"There's very few people around town with this heat. Other than that, everything's normal."

"I don't know how you can go around without feeling it."

Shirou shrugged. Perks of the Gamer Body, but of course he couldn't say that. He still felt the heat, but it didn't wear him down like it did for everyone else and he had learned to trudge through much worse in his erroneous practice of Magecraft.

"You're weird," she declared, shaking her head. "I need another popsicle."

"I'll have one too," he told as he took a seat on the other side of the table while Taiga got up and walked to the fridge. Shirou followed her with his eyes and almost swallowed his tongue when she bent over to rummage through the freezer.

The movement caused her shorts to inevitably hike up her legs, exposing the lower curves of her butt and the lower edge of her panties. Striped, of course.

"... do you want it?" she asked.

"W-what?" he stuttered, red-faced.

"I said, what flavor do you want it?" she repeated turning her head to him.

"Anything's fine," he said, hastily averting his gaze.

Taiga looked at him quizzically, not understanding his sudden behavior. Then it dawned on her and she quickly stood up straight, pulling at her shorts to cover her butt.

She stood there for a moment, heart pounding and face flushed.

 _'It's nothing,'_ she told herself. _'He's just precocious. That's all. It doesn't mean he likes you that way.'_

For once, Taiga was right. Shirou did not like her that way. In truth, he hadn't even considered Taiga as a female until that moment, not really. However, that had just abruptly changed.

Because of a certain duo of stunning women who teased and tormented him with their beauty at every twist and turn, Shirou was very sexually aware and Taiga's unintentional show had just sent his mind reeling.

 _'That's Taiga, you idiot. Taiga!'_ he scolded himself. _'You shouldn't think about her that way.'_

He had only just managed to control his emotions that Taiga returned to the table, handing over a popsicle while she sat back down.

"Thanks," he said, firmly keeping his eyes on the TV, until he heard the wrapping being torn off from her popsicle. With food in front of her, Shirou knew she wouldn't be paying him any attention to him looking at her. He was right about that, Taiga was focused entirely on the popsicle, but it was nonetheless the worst possible moment for him to do that.

Right then, Taiga brushed a lock of hair behind her ears. At the same time her mouth opened to grant access to the cylindrical piece of ice. Shirou watched in slow motion as her lips wrapped around the cold snack and her face changed to one of slight satisfaction.

"Grk!" a strangled noise escaped his throat despite his best attempts at choking it down. He quickly averted his eyes, just in time for Taiga to turn her gaze on him.

She didn't catch the motion, but she wasn't stupid. Shirou's face was very flustered, even though when he came in earlier he looked unfazed by the searing heat.

 _'W-what did I do this time?'_ she wondered. Was it even her doing at all? _'I'm just sitting there, doing nothing but sucking on... Oh! Oohhh!'_

Her own face blossomed into a violent red that couldn't possibly be healthy.

There were many reasons for the intensity of her reaction. Shame that she had unwittingly done something sensual in front of Shirou, embarrassment over his own reaction, but above all else an almost primal sense of satisfaction.

The awareness that he was susceptible to her charms made her heart race and a faint warmth spread through her body. Not at all unpleasant, even on top of the uncomfortable temperature.

At the same time, Shirou cursed that he couldn't just slam his head against something hard and knock himself out without giving Taiga's reason to worry.

He couldn't even get up and leave without giving away the boner he was trying to conceal. He was trapped there without a way out.

He unwrapped his own popsicle and bit into it ferociously, hoping that the sudden chill would give him a headache that would distract him from the stupid thoughts he was having.

Of course, something that didn't even take a single HP off him was unlikely to distract someone who had [Pain Tolerance].

Who would have thought that being unable to feel low-end pain could be such a drawback?

"Ne, Shirou, are you well?" Taiga asked, forcing him to look at her. "Your face is all red."

Before he could say anything, she leaned over across the table and put the back of her hand against his forehead. That wouldn't have upset Shirou much if that position hadn't caused him to see right into her shirt.

"I'm-m-m-m fine," he stuttered. Outwardly he sounded much more in control that inwardly.

 _'Why the hell aren't you wearing a braaaaa?'_

He didn't ask that, of course.

"You are not fine," she objected. "You are burning. It must be a heatstroke. Your face is all red."

"Huh," was the only thing that came out of his mouth. He couldn't just mention that she was flashing him her boobs and how it affected him. More importantly, she was offering him a convenient excuse and he had no intention of denying it. "Y-yeah. That must be it. I'll be fine soon."

"I'm getting some wet towel from the bathroom. Don't go anywhere."

"Alright," he quickly agreed. Taiga stood up and left the living room. A few moments later, Shirou run into the kitchen and put his head into the sink, turning the water to cold and blasting it full-stream. Regardless of the cause, he needed to cool down fast.

* * *

Taiga closed the bathroom door behind her and slid down against it until she was sitting on the ground, resting her face in her hands.

"I can't believe I did that," she said flatly. The first two instances had been accidents, but the third had been on purpose. Spurred by the excitement of knowing that Shirou saw her as a woman, even if only just subconsciously, she teased him by letting him look down her shirt.

Even though she felt guilty about it, his flustered face was so funny. No, funny wasn't the right word. Adorable, that was it. Usually he was so cool and composed, but he didn't know what to do with himself when he saw her bra.

"By the way, what bra did I put on today?" she wondered and then took a peek inside her shirt. A second later her face went bright-red, realizing she had just fully flashed him with her bare tits.

 _'He saw them! He saw them! He saw theeeem!'_ she cried inwardly, clutching her head in dismay. She had completely forgot that she hadn't put a new one on when she had changed after returning from work.

She had never intended for Shirou to see that much. It was supposed to be just light teasing, not a flashing-fest. Instead he had seen it all, the breasts that no man had seen before.

At this point it wasn't just teasing anymore, but all out molestation. Poor Shirou was probably completely traumatized.

Because of her he'd probably end up growing a loner, a man unable to relate to ordinary people, who cannot to stay with a single woman for a prolonged period of time. He'd probably end up having several lovers but fail to put down roots with anyone of them.

Taiga's wildest tangents were on the money more often than what she usually tried to pass for rational thought-process.

 _'It's all my fault. I ruined his life. It's all my faaaaault!'_

Clutching her head, she rolled on the floor with tears pooling at the corner of her eyes.

 _'I must take responsibility. Responsibility? But! But! But! Age difference! Siblings! Just a kid! Waaah!'_

It continued like that for a very long time, her thought becoming more and more confused as she came up with increasingly outrageous solutions to increasingly outrageous scenarios.

* * *

When Taiga didn't come back after more than ten minutes Shirou was starting to get worried.

His concern worked as arousal-suppressor better than anything else he had come up with in the meantime, such as trying to drown himself with cold water in the kitchen sink and chanting buddhist mantras. At the same time.

Deciding to check up on her, he made to leave the living room and stumbled on her just as he was about to step out.

"Taiga, you're back. I was wondering… Taiga?"

"S-Shirou," she stuttered breathlessly. Her clothes were disheveled and her hair were a mess. Her hand reached out and grasped his shoulder firmly. "I'll take… I'll take…."

Whatever she wanted to say died on her lips, as her legs gave in and she crumbled down.

"Wha! Shirou shouted moving to catch her before she could hit the ground. "Taiga?"

"Weee," she moaned, red faced and eyes swirling. "Resp… responsibility…"

At last, even her head went limp and she passed out completely.

Shirou quickly checked her condition. Her breathing and her pulse was steady, but her temperature was high. Almost certainly a heatstroke.

"Damnit. Hold on, Taiga. I'll take you somewhere comfortable."

Shifting her body gently, he daintily picked her up bridal style and made for his room, which while spartan, was also actually the best place in the house, temperature wise. Cooler during summers and warmer during winters. A small luxury that he conceded himself as the only permanent inhabitant of the house.

He tried to get there as fast as he could but still trying to keep Taiga steady in his arms. Her body weight wasn't great, not for someone with his STR, but her height compared to his made her a little unwieldy to him. He needed to use great care.

* * *

Taiga woke slowly shortly after she passed out to a wonderful sensation. A soft cocoon of safety. A part of her recognised it for what it was even though she had never experienced it before.

The embrace of a man.

She didn't know how she knew this. She just did.

Slowly she opened one eye, to secretly gaze at _the one_ who had finally come for her. Her heart nearly stilled as she recognized him, and with that recognition came memories of how she had come to be in the arms of one Emiya Shirou.

She had spent several minutes over thinking things in the bathroom until she made herself feverish and lost of reason, thus deciding to skip all steps and just seal the deal with Shirou.

Fortunately, she passed out before she could do anything she'd regret and that's how she ended up being carried bridal style by her ten-years-old surrogate brother.

' _So strong,'_ she thought. Shirou trained diligently every day, so of course he was stronger than the average kid, however lifting a full-grown adult was downright incredible. Then again, being incredible seemed to be the norm for him these days.

She didn't mind it. In fact she relished the sense of safety being held by him gave her.

' _As I thought I really am…'_

She didn't finish that sentence, not even in her mind. If she did, she wouldn't be able to take it back again.

Instead, she allowed herself to just enjoy this fleeting moment, promising herself it would be the first and the last time.

* * *

After laying down Taiga in his room and lowering her temperature with a wet towel on her forehead, Shirou let her sleep on his futon and he went back to his toolshed to test the limits of his Inventory ability. There was plenty of junk in there that he could use to fill it up and see just how far it went.

Slowly, he started throwing everything he could get his hands on, from things as small as a nail to broken electric appliances to old furniture.

He went on and on until he had picked the entire toolshed clean.

"This is complete bullshit," he decided as he looked at the list of items inside his Inventory. Now, Shirou had always been unfailingly polite, but in this case his outburst was warranted.

The ability to move around seemingly unlimited quantities of stuff with no cost beyond that of hauling himself around was reality-breaking. Wars could be fought and won over chains of supply. Entire countries economies hinged on the flow of merchandise. Strictly speaking, with this kind of ability he could get rich as a smuggler with zero chances of ever being apprehended.

Not to mention the way he could use it in junction to the rest of his powers.

When going into a battlefield, having the right type of equipment is fundamental. However the amount and variety was limited to what one could carry. Needless to say, that didn't apply to him any longer.

Currently he had little in the way of weapons and body armors, but once he procured himself some, he could easily switch to whatever suited the situation best with merely a mental command. He tried, and he switched back and forth between his regular clothes and his pajama several times in the blink of an eye.

As long as he had the procured himself the suitable equipment beforehand, there simply would be no scenario he would be ill-prepared for.

If anyone got wind he could do something like that, he would have just about any and every organization after his sorry ass, starting from the Clock Tower, passing through more mundane things like intelligence agencies right down to the family-owned bakery at the end of the street.

Calling it bullshit was being absolutely tame. There was no way in hell he'd tell anyone about it. Ever.

But once that had been established and the panic subsided such an ability would definitely come in handy.

The problem was that there just wasn't any equipment of his size that he could use. He tried to put some of Kiritsugu's clothing inside the Inventory and tried to equip them from there to see what would happen and the end result was that he was wearing an extremely loose fitting suit. No auto-fitting function included. That would have been sweet.

Thus the only two options available were having equipment custom made… or making it himself. Since he had a convenient cheat available, he should just go ahead and exploit it shamelessly.

He spent the rest of the afternoon making a list of things to try in the following days.

* * *

Outside, too distant from the Emiya household for anyone to detect anything, a set of sharp-looking eyes stared down at the property.

It had taken Wei Kang a lot of time to track down the little shit that stole his prey, but finally he had found him. Now, he only had to wait for the right moment to make his move.

The days of Shihōin Yoruichi and those of anyone who had taken her side were numbered.

* * *

XXX

* * *

AN: Finally! Here's the new chapter. Sorry for the long wait. September hasn't been very kind on me. Finding the time and the state of mind to write has been a challenge.

Now, onto some important stuff. I have made a few modification to my P atreon account. Long story short, my patrons get to read more content and they have a say in what gets updated. Plus, I finally found an artist willing to illustrate scenes from my stories, therefore there will soon be graphic lewds available to my supporters.

Currently for my Initiate level Patrons and above there is already another chapter waiting to be read, and one for The Fall as weel. Look it up at p atreon [dotCOM] / ichaichasennin.

Many thanks to Obiki Doragon for his invaluable help proof-reading this chapter and to all of you folks, who support me all the time, even with just a review.

See you all soon!


	12. 0012

**[EMIYA SHIROU]  
** **[THE GAMER]  
** **[LV 25 - 7800/25000]  
** **[HP: 2500][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 810 ][SP: 10]  
** **[STR: 41][DEX: 42][INT: 23][WIS: 33][CHR: 77]**

The day had started normally enough, by the standards of a Gamer Magus anyway. Shirou got up at the usual hour with all of his stats restored and went about the new routine he had set for himself.

Ordinary physical training was useless at this point, so he skipped it. The next few mornings would be spent maxing out his Cooking skill. With sufficient food made he could have a nearly limitless supply of stamina, which meant he could forgo sleeping altogether.

He could easily replenish his MPs by consuming Mana Cores. It was by no mean a cheap method, but the time he spent farming them was inferior to the time he'd spend sleeping. By his calculations, a single night dedicated to gathering Mana Cores would give net him more than enough to last him a whole week.

He had every intention of maxing out Reinforcement, Projection and Structural Analysis in the next month.

As far as school went he opted for self-study. He was bound to show up for classes, but the material studied by his peers didn't do anything for his [INT]. He would sit in class every morning, but read his own material. None of his teachers had any objections to it, seeing how he had perfect grades in all of their subjects.

His high [CHR] and his impeccable behavior made them rather smitten with him. He could probably get away with everything short of murder.

It was disquieting, to say the least. If someone less scrupulous than him had received this power there would be no telling how much harm they could have done with it.

All the better for him and for the world at large.

With the new routine in place, Shirou saw his Stats and Skills soar. Since, unlike with things like weights, he could easily conceal a very complex book under the cover on another, Shirou had a virtually endless supply of increasingly complex metal exercises.

Using this method his [INT] increased of at least one point every day and he was quickly going through high-school textbooks with ease. Two weeks into it, after he had finished a book on chemistry, his [INT] reached 50 points and a message prompt showed up.

 **[NEW TITLE: Fast thinker (I)]  
** **[Your high INT (50) allows you to process information twice as fast than ordinary people.]**

 _'Sweet,'_ Shirou thought happily.

The Busujima style relied mostly on speed, with all the downsides that it entailed. Being able to process information faster meant that he could use it even more efficiently.

Thinking about it, there were probably going to be related bonuses for bringing each Stat up to 50. He would have to look into leveling them all at least that much. Charisma was already over and beyond it, Strength and Dexterity were almost there.

The issue was with Wisdom. Although it was higher than anyone his age and possibly some adult, his [BROKEN] title made it difficult for him to gain more points and unlike STR, DEX and [INT] he didn't know how to grind it.

Oh, well. Worst case scenario he could invest his spare Points in it.

Feeling satisfied with his progress, he returned home in a very good mood.

The day continued its course until the sun set and disappeared behind the horizon. Fuyuki was cast into a quiet evening, with Shirou and Taiga sitting quietly at the table, eating dinner while watching TV.

Something had happened with Taiga though Shirou didn't know what. In the past few days she was more quiet, more subdued than he ever recalled her being.

Initially he blamed it on the unusual heat, but when that passed she didn't go back to normal. He had asked if there was something troubling her, but she just laughed it off. She didn't have a Quest mark above her head either and with his Stats being high as they were he didn't think he could be lacking the requirements to take it.

Maybe it was just a woman thing. For all of his [INT], he really couldn't figure how they worked. Even Saeko was largely a mystery to him, even though they were lovers.

Speaking of which, in two weeks it would be that time of the month when the wraiths would manifest again. He would have to spend the night at her place and her help with the exorcism.

Maybe if he went earlier they could spend some time together. Hopefully in her bedroom. Or the bathroom. Or wherever.

 _'I think I might have become a pervert,'_ he thought to himself. Even though he didn't see Saeko as often as before and Yoruichi spent more time in Mirror Fuyuki than she did at his place, the image of their bodies was firmly etched into his mind. To say that he was looking forward to be alone with Saeko would be a colossal understatement.

After dinner, Taiga lingered around. This too was odd for her. She would normally show up for meals and leave right after, but lately she hung around until his supposed bedtime.

Ordinarily he wouldn't mind, but it cut into his Magecraft-grinding time.

Still, he would never refuse anyone hospitality, much less Taiga. However, since he was stuck with her he could do something productive like cooking or studying. Those were the least eye-catching things he could to to grind a bit.

"Ne, Shirou," she said after they had been sitting together in silence. "Have you ever thought about skipping grades?"

"Hm? Not really," he answered, looking up from his book. "Would that be possible?"

"You've got the grades for it, that's for sure. If you want, I could ask the school to test you for it."

The sooner he was done with school the sooner he would have more time to help people. If he could skip a year that would be great.

"Yeah, I would like that," he nodded. "Thank you, Taiga. You're the best."

"D-don't worry about it," she replied, suddenly flustered. "It's not like it's a chore or anything."

* * *

 _'Oh shit, this is bad,'_ Taiga bemoaned inwardly.

It had been two weeks since the incident when she flashed Shirou. tried to seduce him, passed out in the process and ended up being carried by him bridal style.

Two weeks and she still couldn't get the feeling of being held by him out of her mind. Two weeks and when their eyes so much as met she would melt in a puddle.

She had a crush on him like she never had on anyone, not even in her teenage years.

Knowing that she couldn't act on it was driving her crazy. To make things worse, she knew it would never get better. Shirou would grow into an amazing man and find an equally amazing woman while she would be stuck growing old alone, watching it all happen from the sidelines. There was just too much of a gap between them and not just in terms of age.

Taiga didn't consider herself mediocre or ordinary, but Shirou was just in a different league. In time he would definitely become an important figure.

She could never hope to be his match.

She knew all that, but that did nothing to put her heart at ease. Maybe it was simply human nature to wish for something one can never have.

"It's getting late, isn't it?" he eventually asked, glancing at the clock. "I'm going to the shed. Okuma-san asked me if I could fix the heating unit of her kotatsu. I better get it done while I still have free time. I'm not sure how much of that I'll have if I start skipping grades."

"That's your fault for being too awesome," she muttered, at which it was Shirou's turn to blush. She had meant to say it in a teasing manner, but the sincerity of that thought had bled into her voice.

Shirou wasn't one to boast about his own accomplishments. If anything he was likely to downplay them. However, even he couldn't say that he was just an average person without it being complete bullshit.

Instead, he just shut up and looked away.

"Anyway, I better get going. Feel free to stay as much as you want though."

"No, I better get going too," she decided, standing up and stretching her limbs. "Tomorrow I'll be up early. Make sure to make me a good breakfast."

"Roger that, ma'am," he agreed, making her giggle.

She left right after that and went back home. With her gone, Shirou could finally grind his Magecraft until morning. He turned off the light in the living room and headed towards the toolshed.

Neither one of them noticed the cellphone Taiga had forgotten under the table.

* * *

 **[Structural Analysis has reached Lv. 85 - 15%]  
** **[Projection has reached Lv. 25 - 52%]  
** **[Reinforcement has reached Lv. 25- 65%]**

Two hours into his training, Shirou had consumed several Mana Cores but all of his three spells had increased by a wide margin.

Pairing his Sword-cheat with a steady supply of Mana plus the bonus of doing Magecraft into his Workshop bore excellent results and he still had the rest of the night to grind them even more.

He was about to consume another Mana Core when the doorbell rang.

He glanced at the clock. It was almost eleven. Who could it possibly be at such a late hour?

Rather than going to see who it was at the door, Shirou used his exceptional strength to jump over the external wall and look who it was from a distance.

That figure wasn't one he could mistake for anyone else, even if he couldn't read the name over her head.

He hopped down from the wall and quickly made his way to the gate.

"Saeko?"

"Hello, Shirou. May I come in?"

"Yes, of course you can. Did something happen? Are you alright?"

"Everything's fine, thank you," she said, stepping inside the house. "I just finished some business in town and since it's too late for any bus to be still running I was wondering if I could take advantage of your hospitality."

"Sure, but... what about them? Won't they roam freely without your exorcism?"

"It's a new moon tonight. These are the few days of the month when they won't manifest at all and I'm free to do as I please."

"Oh. That's great. By the way, if you ever need me to cover for you sometimes just let me know, alright?"

"How thoughtful," she smiled.

"Would you like to take a bath?" he asked. "I have some clothes that might fit you if you want to change."

"I would appreciate it very much, thank you," she nodded gracefully.

"Alright then. The bathroom is over there," he pointed at the door. "I had already drawn the water for myself, so it should still be hot. Let yourself in and I'll see what I can dig out for a change."

"I will do so," she agreed. "Again, thank you for having me over."

"It's nothing much. Go ahead now. I'll be right there."

* * *

At her own place, Taiga was looking everywhere for her cellphone. No matter where she looked she couldn't find it. She tried to call it from the landline, but the call never went through. It probably had run out of battery.

Where the was it that she had last seen it? Hmm... That's right, it was at Shirou's place.

It was a quite late and he was probably already sleeping, but she had the keys so she could let herself in and out without bothering him.

Quickly changing from her pajamas to her regular clothes, she left her house.

* * *

Shirou was in the living room preparing some tea for his unexpected guest when he heard her footsteps approaching slowly.

"Shirou?" she called, poking her head into the room.

"Over here. I thought you would enjoy a light snack before going to b-urk!"

Shirou's words died in his throat when he turned to face her. Saeko was wearing a long sleeved white dress which Shirou had found in one of the closets. He didn't know where it came from, or why Kiritsugu had it, but he had already accepted that there were things about his father that he didn't know. Him having had a woman (a wife?) which he didn't know about was the least of them.

What troubled him was not this latest revelation, of course, but the way said dress hung about Saeko's body. It fell on her perfectly, being slightly tight only around the chest. However, since he hadn't found a spare bra anywhere, such tightness meant that every detail of her bosom was fully highlighted.

"Why, thank you, Shirou," Saeko replied, sounding supremely satisfied with herself. She took a seat at the table while he brought out a tray from the kitchen, with his hands shaking more than he would have liked them to.

They sipped them in silence, though Shirou couldn't stop himself from stealing glances at her every now and then. Were she anyone else, he would berate himself even that much but considering that just a few days prior he had boldly called himself her lover in front of another woman he thought he could do at least that much.

On her part, Saeko was highly amused. Teasing Shirou never got old and knowing she always had such an effect on him gave her the goosebumps every time. To make things better, it was always just the prelude to that actual fun.

"So, uhm, I have laid out a futon for you in the room next to mine," he eventually said.

Saeko loved this aspect of him. Even though they were already intimate, Shirou never assumed that he could do with her as he wanted, even though he was clearly hopeful about how they would spend the night. Well, sometimes in the future she probably would like him to be a bit more... aggressive with her, even if only so that she could play the dominance game with him.

For the time being, however, she was fine with having the undiscussed upper hand.

"While that's very thoughtful of you, Shirou," she replied, setting down her cup. "I don't think I will have a need for that."

"Oh.. uhm...," he fidgeted in place. How was he supposed to follow through with her blatant statement of intent?

He didn't have to find an answer to that question, because she reached out and quite literally snatched him from across the table, slamming him on the tatami and straddling his body with her own.

"Now, then, how about you show me just how far your hospitality goes?"

* * *

The first thing out of place that Taiga noticed was the unlocked gate. That was unusual. Shirou rarely forgot to lock it before going to bed. The next thing were the unfamiliar shoes in the entryway.

Shirou had a guest? At this hour?

She wasn't in any way worried or suspicious. If anything, Shirou knew how to handle himself in every circumstance. She just found it odd.

The light in the living room was on and she approached it without worrying about what she would find. Of course, she would have to have words with him for staying up this late on a weekday, if only because she was still his guardian.

However, once she got close enough, she heard the sound of voices that weren't quite forming coherent words.

She wasn't trying to hide - that wasn't her style- and if she had tried, Shirou's [Detect Presence] skill would have gone off alerting him of her proximity.

Instead, she simply looked through the slight gap between door and its frame and froze mid motion as she was about to open it.

Shirou was there with his guest.

She was bent over the table, her white dress flipped over to expose her bare ass, while he frantically plowed her womanhood.

For a long moment, Taiga's brain failed to put together what she was seeing. It took her a moment for her to recognize who Shirou's partner was. Her black hair were pooled around her face, which was morphed in a look of barely restrained bliss, while her hands clutched the hard surface of the table in search for a firm hold that just escaped her.

Busujima Saeko. Shirou's kendo teacher. A woman more than seven years his senior.

'Molester. Pervert.'

Taiga's mind quickly flew to those definitions, but that only caused a stab of shame to hit her for she too had dreamt of being with him like that.

'It isn't just me,' her brain supplied, causing a flood of relief to wash over her.

Caught between running, crying, screaming, and several other conflicting feelings, she just stood there and watched the man she loved as he fucked another woman.

* * *

It had started simply enough. She had straddled Shirou's body and they made out for a little while.

She could feel his excitement through his clothes against her bare pussy, which she had elected not to wear at all, considering which way she intended the night to go.

To be honest, she was as turned on as he was. In the previous two weeks in which they didn't see each other she had thought about little else but this moment.

She had dropped by his place almost every afternoon but he was never home, and having to return home before dusk meant that she couldn't try in the evening, until today.

It had only been two weeks since they last laid together yet in spite of that…

"...Ooohhh!" she moaned as yet another climax washed over her. Her strength escaped her and she slumped on his prone body, breathing raggedly.

They had been going at it for little over ten minutes and it was already her third orgasm, while he still had to come even once.

Rather than calling it quits, Shirou lifted her, turned her around and bent her over the living room table.

She was still reeling from her climax and unable to struggle for dominance. Before she could collect herself he was once more piercing her folds, thrusting with great vigor.

Even though she was on her knees, his height meant he had to stand on his toes to fuck her and so he wrapped his arms around her waist to hold himself at the right angle.

"Ah! Ah! Saeko!" he called out as he desperately thrust his hips.

"Hmm... Shirou," Saeko moaned. "You have... gotten... way too good at this... Don't tell me... you and Yoruichi..."

"N-no..." Shirou's stuttered he kept thrusting his hips. "We aren't like that."

"G~oood... If...you are ever to make another lover... anyone's better than her. Ahhh~! Yes! Harder!"

She was supposed to be in charge of their relationship. The one in control, but she was steadily losing ground.

Why the hell was he so good at this? Just two weeks ago they were more or less evenly matched and now... now she was putty in his hands.

"I'm cumming! Shiroooou!" she cried out his name as her mind went blank for the fourth time, battered by relentless pleasure. Yet he didn't stop or slow down at all.

"Iiihhh!" she shrieked through gritted teeth, eyes crossing at his seemingly unending vigor. 'At this rate... I'll go crazy.'

But even though she knew that, she couldn't find the strength within herself and simply laid there, trying her best to preserve her sanity.

* * *

Taiga's mind reeled. Another lover? Shirou had other partners? She really thought that it had been this woman who had taken advantage of him, but seeing her forced into climax after climax she couldn't keep thinking that. More importantly, considering her own feeling for him it wasn't impossible other women had fallen for him.

Saeko had mentioned Yoruichi, the dark-skinned knockout babe from the other day... In light of this new development, their visit might not have been a casual occurrence at all and she might have interrupted something.

Going back to the love letter incident... maybe it wasn't that Shirou wasn't yet interested, but that he liked older girls instead?

 _'Why not me? Why couldn't it have been me? '_

She recoiled at the intensity of her own jealousy. She took a step back and fled the scene. The two lovers were too taken with what they were doing and making too much noise to notice her escape.

They continued in their lovemaking without knowing that their illicit liaison had been discovered by yet another person.

* * *

 **The next morning.**

Sunrise found Saeko still laying on Shirou's table. At some point during the night he had flipped her over and she was thus resting on her back.

Shirou was sleeping peacefully with his head resting on her breasts.

She had managed, barely, not to go completely crazy from pleasure but her body had been reduced to a pile of goo, unable to move a muscle save for the occasional twitch.

At no point in their intercourse she had wished for him to stop, but it had been the most terrifying and the most glorious experience of her life, nowhere comparable to their first intercourses.

She told him it was fine if he had another lover so long as it wasn't Yoruichi, though she had meant it in jest.

She wouldn't be happy with her lover being with anyone other than herself. No woman ever would in her opinion.

However, she was seriously considering it now.

Once his desire increased during puberty she wouldn't be able to satisfy his needs. In fact, at this rate, it was just a matter of weeks before she could no longer keep up with his sexual drive.

She had to find him an additional girlfriend otherwise there was just no way she'd survive with her mind intact.

...and besides, her sadistic tendencies found the idea of breaking another woman quite appealing, even by proxy.

Maybe Yoruichi was a valid candidate, after all.

Saeko certainly wouldn't mind taking that woman down down a peg or two.

 _'Hm. I thought I'd be the one corrupting him, but it turns out that it's the other way around,'_ she mused, finally allowing herself to fall in a content slumber.

* * *

Taiga hadn't caught a wink of sleep that night. How could she have? She had run from Shirou's house and locked herself in her room.

Previously she had been worried and confused about her own feelings, before finally accepting that she had a crush on her little brother and deciding that she wouldn't do anything about it because it was wrong.

However, she just found out that he was in a relationship with a woman much older than himself and much prettier than she was.

She spent the night making up what if scenarios in her head.

At this point, she no longer cared that it was improper and very much illegal. That it's not to say she was fine with it, but it was already happening anyway. She was simply regretful that she had let someone else take him from her.

And then there was the fact that Busujima had said something about Shirou doing it with that other gorgeous woman, though he denied it.

Was she fine with him having flings with someone else? Just what kind of relationship did they have?

Had Shirou tamed the undisputed kendo championess, famed for breaking the spirit of many kendoka much older than her, into his demure plaything?

... would he tame her too if she let him?

Would he bend her over the table, flip her skirt up and fuck her from behind like he had done with Saeko?

She slapped her face with both hands at that thought.

"I can't believe I am even considering this," she bemoaned. Just a few days back she was feeling guilty about having a crush on him and now she was having fantasies about him fucking her…

... plowing her wet cunt from behind... like he owned it... owned her...

"THAT'S IT!" she roared, throwing the pillow at the wall in rage, making it explode from the sheer force of impact. She stood up and stomped her foot on the floor. "Screw it! I'm sick and tired of feeling like this! Who does he thinks he his to do this to me, huh? I'll show him! If he thinks he can get away with messing around with my head he has another thing coming! So what if she's younger? So what if she's got bigger tits? I'm not going down without a fight!"

She stormed out of her room, slamming the door behind her and making the entire building tremble in her wake.

Taiga was many things, but a woman who'd let herself be bullied - even by her own feelings - was not one of them. If that was how things were going to be, she'd fight head on.

Her grandfather's men wisely got out of her way, pressing themselves against the walls when they came across her in the corridors, just like they would have had they been faced with an actual tiger.

Yakuza they might have been, but they knew better than getting into young lady's way when she was like this.

They just hoped that God would have mercy on the poor soul who had pissed her off because she sure as hell wouldn't.

* * *

 **[You have slept outside of a bed. HP, MP and ST have been restored to 80%]**

When Shirou's eyes opened, the first thing he saw was obviously the curve of Saeko's breasts. His mind clicked into gear and he looked up to the clock on the wall.

It was six-thirty in the morning. Almost two hours past his usual waking time and just thirty minutes before Taiga would come for breakfast, if she wasn't too hungry.

"Saeko! Wake up!" he called her.

"Mwaah," she replied lazily with a bit of drool running down her chin. "Tired...," she muttered before she went back to sleep with a light snore.

"Damn," he sighed.

Seeing no other option he climbed off her body, retrieved his pants which had been laying where she had removed them from him and put them on.

Then he lifted Saeko and carried her to the room he had set up for her the previous night and gently laid her onto the futon.

With that done he went to fetch mop, bucket and a few spare tatami tiles. He needed to erase the very tangible proof of what they had done last night.

* * *

Half an hour later everything was like nothing ever happened and breakfast was well on the way.

However, Taiga failed to turn up.

This wasn't completely unusual as she sometimes did have other things to worry about early in the morning, but just the previous evening she had told him that she would drop by.

He would have called her but he found her phone under his table as he cleaned up and when called her place and he was told that she had left in a very bad mood.

That explained it. Whatever pissed her off probably made her forget she was supposed to come for breakfast. Heck, if she was upset enough she would forget about being hungry entirely.

He'd better pack an extra big lunch for her or he wouldn't hear the end of it later, when she quieted down.

With that particular problem solved, he prepared yet another bath for Saeko, woke up said sleeping girl and put breakfast on the table for the both of them.

While she ate, he folded her clean clothes and put them with her school bag. As she moved them around, an object fell from the bag clattering on the floor at his feet.

Shirou picked it up and recognized it for what it was. A badge with a stylized skull drawn onto it. Soul Society's proof of membership.

He didn't know Saeko was a member of the group, though all things considered it wasn't really strange. He supposed that the business she had to take care of the previous evening was down in Mirror Fuyuki.

He was still examining it when Saeko came out of the bathroom, with only a towel wrapped around her head.

"Oh," she exclaimed as she noticed him and the object in his hand.

"Sorry, it fell out of your bag," he said, handing the badge back to her. "I didn't know you were part of Soul Society."

"... I have only joined yesterday," she admitted, looking away.

"Huh. Well, then maybe I'll see you around there every now and then."

"Y-yeah," she agreed bashfully yet happily.

Unbeknownst to Shirou, the reason why she had joined in the first place was because she found out he went there.

She wanted to spend more time with him and now that they no longer trained together this was the best thing she could come up with.

"Anyway, breakfast's ready."

"Thank you. I'll be right there. Just give me a minute to get dressed."

Five minutes later they were both sitting at the table, quietly munching on their food. The same table upon which he had fucked the living daylight out of her until just a couple of hours earlier.

"Uuuh, sorry about tonight. I don't know what came over me."

Saeko laughed. "I'm the one who started it, right? Besides, the only thing I'm sorry about is that I let you have the upper hand all the time. I'm not an expert on men, but how did you get so good so quickly? Do you really not have another woman?"

"N-no!" he protested. "I just... it's sort of a sword too, you know?"

"Hm? What is-? ... Oh!"

That was the explanation Shirou had reached. His [Sexual Interaction] skill leveled very fast despite him not investing much time into it at all. The best thing he could come up with was that it could be loosely considered a sword as well, and thus subjected to his cheat ability. In the course of the previous night it had reached lv. 20

Saeko snorted, then snickered, then burst out laughing without reservations.

"Ha-ahahahahah! Oh my God," she said, drying the tears from her eyes. "Shirou, you might just be the most dangerous opponent any woman could face, you know?"

"Well, excuse me," he pouted. "Besides, it's not like I intend to put it into practice with anyone other than with you."

Saeko blushed and she felt her heart melt a little. Even though he had refused to commit to her in favor of pursuing his ideals he still wished to stay true to her.

"No, I would prefer if you found more lovers," she replied.

"Yeah that's what I- What?" he asked, wide eyed.

"You have chosen a path that will take you far from here, Shirou. Far from me. It wouldn't sit well with me if I were to hold you back from experiencing life at its fullest."

"But... That's... I'm sorry, that's not something I can accept so easily," he protested. "If... If you were to be with someone other than myself, I wouldn't be able to accept it."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," she waved her hand dismissively. "I could never love anyone other than you."

Shirou's mind reached an abrupt halt as his eyes became as wide as saucers.

"T-then all the more so I'm not going to..."

"Let's break up then," she said firmly.

"What?" he jumped to his feet. "No! I refuse it!"

"Well, I'm not giving you a choice in the matter," she replied sternly. "I could never live happily being the thing that held you down. I'm sorry, but if that's what I must do then I-!"

"Fine!" he threw up his hands. "Fine, I'll find another lover." He sat back down. "I can't believe I'm having this conversation. For future reference, I think you're out of your mind."

"Oh, I definitely am. Besides, if it makes you feel any better, I would like something in return."

"What is it?" he asked, feeling a sense of dread wash over him.

Saeko licked her lips like predatorily.

"Share them with me anytime you can."

That suggestion didn't help quiet down Shirou's already overworked libido in the least.

* * *

XXX

* * *

AN: And here we go with another chapter. Taiga is now aware that Shirou's precociousness has surpassed her expectations by far and she's now willing to take action.

I hope that you enjoyed the chapter and that you will leave me a review.

That said, this month my Patrons will have access to two additional chapters for this story (on the 15th). If you are interested in reading more stuff each month, consider supporting me. You will also gain access to lewd pictures I commission depicting scenes from my fic and you could also suggest and vote what gets illustrated. Consider supporting me over at "pat reon [dotCOM] / ichaichasennin"

Thank you for reading and see you soon folks!


	13. 0013

**[EMIYA SHIROU]  
** **[THE GAMER]  
** **[LV 25 - 7800/25000]  
** **[HP: 2500][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 810 ][SP: 10]  
** **[STR: 41][DEX: 42][INT: 50][WIS: 33][CHR: 77]**

Shirou walked through the empty streets of the spectral copy of his hometown with Shisui drawn at his side.

Thanks to the wide range of his [Detect the Unnatural], looking for slimes was much easier for him than it would be for anyone else.

On average, every night he could get as much as twenty Mana Cores. Now that he knew that they were weak to fire and with full awareness of his Inventory ability, killing them was a breeze.

Before heading out each night, he filled his inventory with home-made molotovs. He threw them after having Reinforced them, which bestowed upon the incendiary weapon the spiritual aspect necessary to interact and harm supernatural entities.

He was a bit disappointed when his little bout of MacGyvering didn't unlock the fire-based Magecraft skill, but he supposed there was a limit to how much of a cheat he was.

However, he happily found out that if he Reinforced something and then stored it in his Inventory, it would not lose its enchantment no matter how long it stayed there. That, in spite of the fact that food still spoiled, albeit at a slower pace, so it wasn't like time didn't flow inside it.

The best assumption he could make was that wherever it was that his Inventory opened up to, it was nowhere under Gaia's domain.

It was pretty neat, all things considered. It meant that he could Reinforce equipment beforehand while inside his Workshop, where Mana consumption was reduced and the rate of success was increased, and then pull them out fully powered at a later time.

It went a long way to help him conserve his Mana. Even with lots of Cores at hand, one could not easily stop in the middle of a fight and consume one, expecting the enemy to let him to so unimpeded.

The less things required his attention in the middle of a fight, the more likely he was to emerge victorious. Simple as that.

Now better prepared than ever, Shirou patrolled the streets looking for one more prey. It had been more than half an hour since he last found one. He was starting to think there weren't anymore of them in this part of the city.

Maybe it was time to move to more distant parts of town. The area around the Red Light district was constantly swept by the members of Soul Society, so there were few mobs to begin with. If he went farther away from their base of operation, there should be much more preys available.

Stronger ones too.

Feeling confident with his own power, he decided that it was time to venture forth.

The Business District was located right next to the Red light District. Shirou supposed there was a reason for that, but he'd rather not think about it.

Almost as soon as he moved into this new area, he received several prompts of supernatural presences nearby.

That definitely surpassed his best expectations. He carefully approached the location of the closest one and upon turning a corner he was greeted by the sight of a familiar mass of goo.

It was nearly identical to the slimes he had fought until that point, save for the fact that they were pink instead of green and had a different name.

 **[Slime Girl]  
** **[Lv.55]**

 _'Huh,'_ Shirou pondered. _'They have a gender?'_

Shirou hadn't even considered the possibility, though he supposed it wasn't totally absurd. Why Slime girl though? Wouldn't Female Slime fit better?

Shaking his head free of silly thoughts, Shirou pulled out another molotov from his Inventory, lighted it up and tossed it at the monster.

The bottle crashed next to it exploding in glass and fire.

 **[HP -100]**

The damage it received was about half that of its earlier brethren. It also moved much faster, as it immediately started zigzagging towards him.

"Shit!"

There was no time to pull out another molotov. Shirou jumped back just in time to narrowly avoid a flurry of tentacles that whipped in his direction.

Shirou had already vacated the place, but he was still close enough to see the asphalt melt where the tentacles had hit, showing that they had some kind of strongly acidic attribute to them.

Between this and the higher level, they were an entirely different foe from their earlier counterparts.

 **[HP +10]  
** **[HP +10]  
** **[HP +10]**

And by the looks of it, they had a passive regeneration as well.

As he considered what to do, the slime wobbled in place. Part of its mass extended upward, slowly shaping itself to look like a female human from the waist up.

 _'Oh, so that's why she's a Slime Girl,'_ he thought, blushing slightly at the sight of a naked pseudo-woman.

The Slime Girl seemed to study him with a finger placed on her lips. Shirou for his part was examining her back, wondering if he was equipped to fight her. She was too fast to use molotovs against her and he didn't know whether or not she could melt his weapons faster than he could kill her.

What should he do? Retreat and gather information about the best way to fight her or give it a shot either way?

... After a moment of consideration, he decided that caution was the best part of valor. While the Slime still looked perplexed, Shirou stepped away slowly, until he was confident enough to turn around and run away properly.

Perhaps it wasn't a very brave approach, but it was better being safe than sorry, at least when there was only his life on the line.

As soon as he got away he felt a strange relief wash over him, almost as if he had dodged a very grim fate.

* * *

"A Slime Girl?" Matsumoto asked. "I never heard of something like that."

After Shirou made his way back to Soul Society, he went to look for Matsumoto inside Ahnenerbe, wanting to know what was the best way to handle this new creature, but it appeared that none had ever met it.

"It could be a rare spawn," she explained. "Sometimes a variant of a monster appears, which is very much stronger than the usual sort. I'll let the other hunters know about it."

"Do you think I should have tried to kill it?" he asked, at which Matsumoto shrugged.

"You are the one who had to make that call. However, your instinct told you to retreat, right? You won't last long in this line of work if you can't or won't trust your gut. I can at least tell you that much."

"Trust my gut, eh? I'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Matsumoto-san."

"Aw. Don't mention it," she cooed, ruffling his hair. "You can always come to this nee-san whe you are in doubt."

"A-anyway, I should probably get going. The sun is going to rise soon and I better get home before that, otherwise I'll have to come up with a very good excuse with my guardian."

"A Magus with a curfew," she chuckled. "Who would have thought."

"I guess the world is stranger than you imagined, Matsumoto-san."

"So it seems," she laughed before taking sip of liquor. "Thank goodness for that. If there is one thing I really hate, it's boredom."

"Yes, well. I shall strive to make your life interesting then," he joked.

"Why, Shirou-kun, you are already doing that. If you keep it up, I might even reward you for it," she promised.

She was obviously teasing him, probably without realizing that he was already receptive to this kind of stimuli. At least, Shirou had gotten used to this kind of behavior a little bit, thanks to Yoruichi, and managed to play oblivious.

"Hm? What do you mean?" he asked, tilting his head cutely. Matsumoto seemed to realize what kind of pass she just made and recovered her composure.

"Nothing, nothing. It was just a joke, but you are too young to understand it. Run along now, or you'll be home late."

"You're right. See you next time, Matsumoto-san," he said, throwing on his backpack and making for the exit towards the real world.

* * *

After Shirou had left, Matsumoto kept staring at the door from which he had just vanished.

What was wrong with her, flirting with a kid like him? Granted, playful was her default mode and being almost always a bit tipsy didn't really help her in that regard.

She also wasn't used to being around children, so she didn't really know how to deal with them. More importantly, most of the time Shirou didn't really come through as a kid, so she more often than not she almost forgot he was one, right until she said something that should have had him blushing up a storm but flew over his head completely instead.

Oblivious guys were the worst.

Oh, well. That just meant she had to try a bit harder. She could certainly get a brat to blush if she actually tried. Otherwise, her name wouldn't be Matsumoto Rangiku.

* * *

Shirou made it home well before dawn. Keeping himself to less traveled streets he run at the top of his speed and made it back in less than half an hour. He had more than enough time to get started on breakfast.

He was sure Taiga would come today. She never skipped the first meal of the day twice in a row.

He was not mistaken in that regard and about a hour later he heard the front door opening, and the familiar footsteps of Fuji-nee approaching the kitchen.

"Ohayo, Shirou," she greeted.

"Good morning, Taiga," he greeted back as he turned. "Breakfast is almost ready so that a se….Taiga?"

Although the person he was looking at was clearly Fujimura Taiga, Shirou almost didn't recognize her.

To be perfectly honest, she had always been on the pretty side of the attractiveness spectrum. However being sort of a slob who preferred comfortable yet frumpy clothes detracted from that and made her look overall plain.

Not that morning.

Gone was the frumpy dress, replaced by skintight jeans shorts and a t-shirt - striped, because what else? - and a hooded jersey with the zipper left open.

If one had to describe her look, it would be tomboyish college girl.

However, the clothes alone wouldn't have been enough to give him pause. There was a completely different feel about her. Her hair had a new luster, her skin seemed fairer and the color of her lips more vivid.

Was she wearing makeup? She had to be.

"Hm? What is it?" she asked, feigning ignorance.

"You changed your looks," he replied after a moment. "It suits you."

"O-oh. Well I'm glad you like it," she said somewhat bashfully. "Anyway, let's eat."

"Right," he agreed and started to bring food the table. They immediately started eating, and Shirou had to acknowledge that Taiga's look wasn't the only thing that had changed.

She never was exactly one to gorge herself with food, but she never made any effort to conceal her appetite either. That morning, she ate slowly and carefully. One could almost say that she was ladylike in her behavior, which contrasted greatly with her tomboyish apparel.

Eventually, he had to ask.

"Are you thinking of going to work wearing that? I mean, it looks good on you but isn't it a little too informal?"

"I'm not working today," she explained. "I took a couple of days off."

"Oh…. Is there any problem? Yesterday you didn't come around all day long and I barely saw you at school. Did something happen?"

She looked at him in a way that he couldn't quite describe. He would have thought it almost looked accusing, but it couldn't be, because he was a hundred percent sure he hadn't done anything that would upset her.

"Not really. I just felt like taking a break."

"Alright then," he nodded. As long as she was fine, he had nothing to object.

"I was thinking of spending the day at the new water park that opened last month."

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I forgot about that completely. I thought about going too some day."

"Well then, why don't you skip school for once and come with me?"

Shirou snapped his head up. Did he heard wrong or did Taiga - his legal guardian and homeroom teacher - just tell him to skip school?

"Uuuuh?"

"Come on," she insisted. "You are so far ahead of the curve that you could skip the rest of the school year and still graduate at the top of your class. Besides, genius or not you need to wind down and have fun sometimes."

There was an exclamation mark above her head. The telltale sign of a Quest waiting to be accepted.

 **[NEW QUEST]  
** **[Heart of the Tiger]  
** **[Description: Have fun with Taiga at the Water Park]  
** **[Reward for success: 5.000EXP, ?]  
** **[Consequence for failure: 500EXP, Relationship with Taiga: Strained]  
** **[Accept?]  
** **[Y/N]**

Shirou frowned. Why would something so trivial affect his relationship with Taiga?

Still, she was right and he could afford to skip a day of school or two. The Quest reward was sweet too and, more importantly, he didn't want to ruin his bond with Taiga.

"Sure. I suppose I could use a break too."

Going by Taiga's smile, Christmas had to have come early.

* * *

Shirou started regretting his choice immediately after leaving the house.

It wasn't like he decided that he would rather go to school than going to the pool. No, his regret stemmed mostly from his choice in companionship.

For Taiga, deciding to skip work for a couple of days and have fun instead wasn't particularly strange. She was an extremely whimsical individual. Shirou wasn't worried about that.

He was rather worried about himself in relation to her.

In the past months, his awareness of the opposite gender had been forcibly awakened and also heightened.

As a result, his gaze was always drawn by the curves of the female body. No one was spared. Not even his surrogate sister.

To make things worse, on this day she someone decided to highlight her femininity in a way she had never done before where he could see.

Shirou's gaze inevitably fell on the length of her thighs, which considering their difference in height meant they were almost exactly at eyes level.

One could say what they wanted about Taiga, but not that she wasn't fit.

She liked to eat a lot and laze about when she could, but when she didn't she was an intensely active woman, who still diligently practiced kendo every single day even though she no longer took part in official competitions.

And it showed.

Therefore, even though Shirou had been exposed to the overwhelming femininity of Saeko and Yoruichi, that didn't mean he wasn't susceptible to Taiga's.

Lust swelled into his chest, while Saeko's encouragement to find other lovers replayed in his head, which prompted him to punch his own face every now and then to clear his mind.

This wasn't just any woman. This was Taiga. He would not make her an object of his fantasies.

Of course, he couldn't know that her intentions were exactly the opposite of his own.

Taiga's plan was working. She could tell from feeling Shirou's gaze on her skin while they made their way to the water park.

The previous day, she had spent hours deciding what to do with her feelings for him, in light of the revelation that he was already in a relationship with one or more older women.

To be quite honest, she was a bit angry. Mostly at herself, for letting someone else claim something she felt belonged to her, and in lesser measure at him for letting it happen.

Taiga was acutely aware that what she intended to do was wrong, no matter which way she sliced it. However, she was not one to let herself be bullied, not even by her her own emotions.

She had already accepted that she couldn't change her feelings and she had decided not to act on them to protect him. However, now that she had found out that he had already been... spoiled, her reservation came crashing down.

 _'If someone gets to have him, that's going to be me.'_

This was the decision she had come to and now that she had pushed past the barrier of her own morality, she was thoroughly enjoying feeling his eyes on her.

Her pride had been prickled, her territory had been infringed upon. She had to retaliate or her name wasn't Fujimura Taiga.

* * *

They eventually made it to the water park, where they split to get changed in their swimsuits. Shirou was fairly quick about it, so he found himself waiting for Taiga while he looked over the immense establishment.

Exciting Waves had been built in the course of a few weeks as an unknown investor had bought the land for cheap and poured billions to built the state-of-the-art water park.

An establishment that was completely devoid of life at present, since it was a weekday and it wasn't even high season yet. Actually there were other people around, but they were so few and the place was so big that he would have had a hard time telling without actively using [Detect Presence].

They basically had all the park to themselves.

"There you are," Taiga's voice called. He steeled his mind before turning around. By now, he knew full well that he would not be able to look at her and stay indifferent, so he forced himself it the state of mind of a Magus, before laying his eyes on her.

Even so, his heart still skipped a beat at the sight of her.

True to her preference, Taiga had chosen a striped two-pieces swimsuit.

It was a completely normal piece of apparel in these circumstances, but it showed far more skin that he was used to seeing from her.

A slight blush made its way to his face.

"So... let's get inside," he proposed. The sooner he got into the water, the sooner he'll get to cool down his head.

'If this is how puberty is going to be all the time,' he mused as they went over to the water, 'it's going to be a real nightmare.'

* * *

Behind Shirou's back, Taiga clenched her fist victoriously.

Her swimsuit - her body - definitely had an impact on him. She was afraid of being out of the competition on that front, considering the beauties she was secretly faring against, but it seemed that it wasn't the case.

She definitely had a chance to score with him. She just had to play her cards right.

For the next few hours, Shirou and Taiga played in the water. They swam and splashed each other without any second meaning.

Both of them appreciated the respite. Even Taiga, despite being the instigator of the tension between them. After days of worrying over her own feelings, she welcomed some mindless fun.

Eventually, though, they decided to get out of the water and have a snack.

Shirou climbed out of the pool first and held out his hand to help Taiga out.

That was a mistake on his part. He was certainly strong enough to lift her easily, even with the added weight of the water on her skin.

What he failed to consider was that the higher ground would give him a perfect view of her breasts. It proved enough of a distraction to make him use more strength that it was required.

"Wha!" she yelped as she almost flew out of the water.

The sudden change in position made Shirou lose his balance, causing him to land on his back on the poolside while Taiga crashed onto him a short moment later, making his vision go dark.

"Hmm?" Shirou wondered with his head buried between two mounds of flesh. With some difficulty he twisted his head up, relative to his body and found Taiga looking down at him.

There was a string hooked on his nose, which crossed his field of vision. For a moment, he didn't realize what it was, until he figured exactly what were those two mounds that he could feel pressed against his face.

Taiga's naked breasts.

From his position, Shirou couldn't tell exactly how his limbs were placed. As he felt the impulse to get himself out of that situation he slightly flexed his hand.

"Hya!" Taiga moaned as his fingers kneaded her soft flesh. If having his face buried between her tits wasn't enough of a reason, her flushed face and cute moan broke the hold he had on his own arousal.

Shirou's erection happened so fast that the head of his cock brushed against Taiga's crotch.

Even through the material of both their swimsuit, the contact against the folds of her womanhood sent a spark of pure pleasure up her spine.

"-!"

With all of her willpower, Taiga suppressed the throaty moan that would otherwise escaped her lips. Instead, she pushed herself away from Shirou, disregarding the fact that his head was still tangled with the top of her swimsuit.

As result her butt hit the floor of the poolside, which made her breasts bounce around freely.

It took all but a second for her to realize that she was flashing her breast and to cover herself with her arms, but by then Shirou already had a clear eyeful of it.

The Magus's eyes threatened to burst out of his skull and his erection out of his trunks. He too realized quickly his own circumstances and rapidly rushed to cover the incriminating tent.

"S-S-Sorry!" he stuttered, handing over her indument and then jumping headfirst into the water, so that he could sink into its depths, never to emerge again.

* * *

Taiga's heart was going a mile a minute.

It had been nothing more than an innocent accident. It should have been nothing more than that.

Yet, she could still feel the burning touch of Shirou's fingers on her skin and the hardness of his manhood against her most intimate place.

Shirou had thrown himself into the water right after, certainly feeling as embarrassed as she did. Perhaps even more, since he caused it to happen.

WIth a long drawn breath, Taiga recomposed herself and then jumped back into the water as well.

She found Shirou sitting seiza at the bottom of the pool, like a penitent monk.

How stupid of her. Regardless of his relationship with older women, Shirou was a gentleman at heart. He would definitely feel guilty over something like that, even if it was entirely accidental.

Taiga wouldn't have that. She had her own share of responsibility in this matter. After all, she was trying to seduce him, therefore she could hardly blame him for her own partial success.

She swam next to him and poked his head. He opened his eyes, saw her, and quickly shut them again.

What was he planning to do? Stay down there until he drowned? He was certainly stubborn enough to do exactly that, this idiot.

Still, if there was one thing in which she wasn't inferior to him, it was certainly stubbornness.

She sat seiza in front of him and waited.

* * *

Shirou opened his eyes to find Taiga looking straight at him, while she mirrored his penance.

If he wasn't underwater, he would have likely sighed tiredly.

He should have known Taiga wouldn't just go away because he ignored her. She was stubborn as much as he was. If she put her mind to something, she would pursue it to the very gates of hell.

If he decided to stay there, she would do the same even if she drowned. Of course, he couldn't have that and so he elected to swim back to the surface.

Shirou broke out of the water with a gasp and climbed out of the pool, sitting on the floor to catch his breath. A moment later, Taiga was laying next to him, her breath just as labored as his.

After they had both regained their breath, they laid silently next to each other for a while

"Ne, Shirou..." she eventually said.

"What is it?"

"Do you think my breasts are soft?" she asked, cupping said globs of flesh.

"What the hell are you even asking?" he sputtered, red faced and sitting up straight.

"What? It's a legitimate question. You're the first man to see them and touch them, so I'm asking for your opinion."

"I have no intention of answering that," he declared.

"Oh? So I guess if they aren't as big as Saeko's they aren't just worth bothering. Is that how it is?"

"Excuse me? What does Busujima-sensei have to do with anything?"

"Busujima-sensei?" she parroted mockingly. "That's not what you called her the other night when you were fucking her on the table where we eat every day."

Shirou felt a chill go up his spine. They had been caught. They had been caught and they hadn't even noticed.

He racked his brain for an explanation that could excuse what happened to be a very illegal relationship. Shirou himself was above (or rather beneath) legal repercussions because of his age, but not Saeko.

And yet, he definitely didn't feel like justifying himself. His feelings for Saeko were genuine and requited. He would not feel ashamed for them.

"I see. So that what's this is about. Yes, Saeko and I are like that. What of it?"

Taiga felt a shiver go down her spine. Shirou had pinned her down with his gaze and she couldn't find in herself the strength to move a single finger.

He was a completely different person all of a sudden. She had already a hard time seeing a kid when he looked at him, but now she wasn't sure she was looking at a human being at all.

He was an overbearing existence. Kind and gentle only because he chose to, not because he lacked the strength or willpower not to be such.

She was suddenly afraid of him, and yet even more attracted to him than she already was.

* * *

 **[As a result of a special action you have learned: Eye of the Tyrant]  
** **[Eye of the Tyrant - LV MAX]  
** **[Description: Convey your will through your gaze and make people submit to you. Requires thrice the target's CHR to be effective. The effect is split against multiple opponents]**

Shirou might have balked at the new skill he had just acquired, if not for the fact that he was currently busy using it on Taiga to protect Saeko.

"Well?" he asked. "What are you going to do about it?"

"N-nothing. I... I didn't mean it that way. You... you can be with whomever you want to, of course. I... I was just..."

"You were just what?"

"... jealous. I was just jealous of her. Because she got to be with you."

Shirou's mind screeched to a halt. The effect of Tyrant Eye vanished and Taiga realized what she had just admitted.

Before Shirou could say anything, she got up and started to sprint toward the changing room. Shirou was too dumbstruck to stop her. Even with [Fast Thinker (I)] he was just too busy making sense of what had just heard to intervene.

As soon as she disappeared past the door, another prompt appeared into his vision.

 **[Heart of the Tiger: FAILED]  
** **[Reward failure: +500XP, Relationship with Fujimura Taiga downgraded to: Strained]**

"Shit."

What else was there to say about this mess?

* * *

XXX

AN: Surely you didn't think that getting Taiga would be easy, right? Just because she was the closest to him doesn't mean that everything would go smoothly.

Anyway, a huge thank you to my beta, Obiki, and to you guys who always read and review.

By the way, if you are eager to read the next chapter (plus two more on the 15th of this month) make sure to pay a visit to my Pa treon account at "P atreon [dotCOM] / ichaichasennin"


	14. 0014

**[EMIYA SHIROU]  
** **[THE GAMER]  
** **[LV 25 - 15700/25000]  
** **[HP: 2500][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 850][SP: 10]  
** **[STR: 42][DEX: 43][INT: 50][WIS: 33][CHR: 77]**

* * *

Shirou returned home from his regular trip to the Reverse Side shortly before dawn.

Unlike the last time, he was in no hurry to get home. After the incident at the water park, Taiga never came around again.

He learned that she took a couple of weeks from work, citing health issues, and she refused to see him when he went looking for her at her place.

Shirou was in a good relationship with the Fujimura group, but Taiga was their princess. If she didn't want to see anyone, her grandfather's men wouldn't let anyone in.

Shirou could have easily forced his way through, but that wasn't his nature. More importantly, the problem was first caused by his callous use of his abilities.

Tyrant Eye. The ability to force those with inferior willpower to submit to the user. It was a useful ability if one intended to defuse a volatile situation without violence, but he had abused it on the very first day.

It had been unintentional, but it had left Shirou disgusted with himself all the same.

Needless to say, he wouldn't go around using it on anyone unless it was absolutely necessary.

However, that left him absolutely stumped. He was supposedly a genius, but he had no clue what to do in these circumstances.

At his core, Shirou wasn't the kind of person who could let the wrong stay wrong, but that didn't mean he knew how to make it right. Taiga loved him the way a woman loves a man. The same as Saeko.

Should he have seen it coming?

His charisma made him attractive in a way that transcended age, and they already shared was a bond of affection to one another.

Did Attraction plus Affection equals Love every the time? Was there some other, unmeasurable factor in play that his Gamer Eyes couldn't discern?

Or maybe, was it how humans actually functioned?

Even normal people had charisma that worked not differently from his own. Throughout history, there have been countless figures that managed to steer entire nations with their personality alone.

Charisma was power and power was not unlike gravity. It inevitably drew people in and if they were ill equipped to handle it, they would get crushed.

In light of that, maybe it was better if Taiga had nothing to do with him from there onward.

Magi were already a dangerous existence by virtue of the things they actively did. As the Gamer, he was also dangerous in a passive way. He didn't need to do anything to affect reality around him anymore.

That was the conclusion he had reached.

However, the problem with relationship points and levels was that they worked both ways. Whether or not that was a consequence of his Gamer Eyes or it was just the way he was, it remained the fact that as Taiga's feelings for him had grown, so had his feelings for her.

The idea of being separated from her tore at him. Still, it was really better this way. Time would heal all wounds and Taiga would eventually forget about him.

It was for the best.

* * *

Taiga woke up to the light shining through the blinds of her room.

Her eyes were red, as expected from someone who had cried herself to sleep.

In the course of the previous week, she had become familiar with the sense of shame and hollowness inside her chest, but that didn't mean she had also grown used to it.

'I've ruined everything.'

She woke up with this thought every morning.

She didn't know what had come over her that morning. All she knew that under Shirou's firm gaze she couldn't bring herself to conceal the truth anymore and blurted it out in the worst way possible.

She hadn't meant to make it sound like she was threatening to expose his relationship with Saeko, but it was only natural he would perceive it like that.

She was supposed to break off such a thing, even call the authorities. Certainly not wish for the same thing for herself.

Taiga didn't know how Shirou's relationship with Saeko had come to be. Maybe, despite the morally arguable circumstances they truly loved each other. Certainly, from what she had seen of it, it didn't seem like she had forced herself on him.

Yet her intention had been to break them apart, not in order to protect him, but so that she could take Saeko's place.

Not only she had failed as her guardian, but she had shown herself willing to ruin what they had for her own selfish reasons. She hadn't understood how despicable her behavior was until she put it into words, after which she couldn't bring herself to face Shirou again.

She had made run for it and she had no intention of stopping. She called in sick from work and at the same time she had made a request to transfer to another school so that she wouldn't have to him again.

Not tomorrow, not in a hundred years. That was the depth of her shame.

If not for the fact that it would only cause him even more troubles, she would have also removed herself as his legal guardian. Instead she chose to stay so that no one else would get in the way of his relationship with his girlfriend.

She didn't even have the courage to tell him to his face. She couldn't stand the thought of the expression he would make upon seeing her. She hardly could look herself in the mirror anymore.

She hoped that in doing so he would forget she had ever existed and with that the shame she had brought upon herself.

Even though it tore her apart from the inside out.

* * *

 **The next night.**

Shirou struck down wraith after wraith. Behind him, Saeko mirrored his steps.

The two of them together were like an unstoppable whirlwind. The never-ending flow of restless spirits didn't manage to put even the slightest scratch on them.

Yet, only half of the spirits were being successfully exorcised. The other half was merely pushed back and quickly returned to the front line.

Still, they were being held at bay long enough for their number to diminish, until the sunrise came and disrupted the power that gave them substance, causing them to vanish with the early morning mist.

"What troubles your heart so much, Shirou?" Saeko asked, sheathing her sword.

Shirou didn't even consider lying and tell her that everything was fine. The fact that his sword couldn't harm the wraiths was definitive proof that his mind wasn't properly focused.

Shirou sheathed his own sword and turned to face his teacher and lover.

"I have... made a mess of things with my guardian," he admitted.

Saeko tilted her head. "And I suppose you don't know how to make it right?"

He nodded.

"I am not the foremost expert on people myself, Shirou, but I do a few years on you after all. If you are willing, I'd like to help you in this matter."

Shirou scratched his head and looked away embarrassedly. He had already considered asking Saeko for advice in the previous days, but he had wanted to wait and see if the situation changed any.

More importantly, he felt embarrassed in discussing with his girlfriend the love confession he had received from another woman. Still, it did involve her as well.

"My guardian found out about us a few days ago," he eventually admitted. Saeko's eyes became wide as saucers and her complexion paled considerably.

"She won't say anything," he quickly supplied.

"How can you be so sure?" she asked, obviously not being so easily reassured.

"... because she confessed she was jealous of you... and that she would have wanted to be with me."

"... How did you answer?" she asked.

"I didn't," he sighed. "She run away immediately after and she's been avoiding me ever since."

"When did this happen?"

"Over a week ago. She's hasn't been coming to school either. To avoid me, I suppose."

"I see. And what do you plan to tell her once you see her next?"

"... I'm going to reject her as gently as I possibly can."

"You do not like her, then?"

"Yes. No!" he amended. "It's complicated."

"This isn't about us, is it?" she asked.

"You might be inclined to share," Shirou grumbled, "but that doesn't mean she would. Even then, I would turn her down. She's not like us. She's not part of the Moonlit World. She's not equipped to deal with the baggage we carry and I have no desire to be in a relationship with anyone and hiding all this from her."

Saeko nodded, but looked thoughtful. "That's a good reasoning and a good reason, Shirou. So why are you troubled? Ah. You do like her."

Shirou lowered his head in shame. "I care for her. She's my sister."

"She is not. There is no blood relation between the two of you and being your legal guardian doesn't make her your relative. More importantly, it does not change the fact that you see her as a woman."

"Nevertheless," he huffed. "My feelings for her don't change the situation. I won't put her in danger by making her even closer to me than she already is... and I don't intent to leave you for her either."

She caressed his face gently, while a warm smile adorned her face. "Thank you, Shirou. It means a great deal for me, knowing this. That being said, I think you might be making the wrong decision in this matter."

"But you just said..."

"I know what I said. You reasons are good and well thought out, but do they change how you feel? Do they change how she feels about you?"

"How could they? She doesn't even know about them and keeping it from her it's the whole point of it."

"So, you have taken upon yourself to decide for the both of you. This way, not only she will suffer, but she won't even truly know why. That is a sad fate you are condemning her to."

"But... I'm supposed to keep it secret."

"Shirou, your existence and hers are already intertwined. Ignorance never protected anyone. If you can't answer her feelings, you should at least turn her down sincerely. At least... that's what I would want in her place."

Shirou closed his eyes and pondered her words. There was some merit to them. If Taiga knew of the Moonlit World and its secrets, maybe she could let go of her feelings more easily.

Maybe... but it went against everything he had been taught by Kiritsugu. As much as he valued Saeko's opinion, Shirou wasn't one to change his mind easily.

"I'll... consider it," he decided to say. "Thank you Saeko."

"Think nothing of it. You can always come to me for help, Shirou. No matter which ordeal you face I want to stand by your side as much as I can. Now, we should probably head back if you want to make it to school in time."

Shirou nodded and followed her down the mountain. His mind wasn't any more at peace than it was earlier.

* * *

"Yo, brat!" Yoruichi greeted once Shirou returned from school. She was, of course, completely naked.

"Oh, Yoruichi-san," Shirou greeted back. "I haven't seen you around here in awhile."

"That's because you're almost never home during the day and I'm always down there at night."

"Oh, yeah, I guess that makes sense," he agreed weakly.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Hmm? Yes, of course. Why do you ask?"

"For one thing, you haven't even blinked at seeing me naked when just a couple of weeks ago you couldn't look in my general direction without getting a hard-on. Secondly, you are not out there helping random strangers as usual."

"Am I that transparent?" he asked.

"Pretty much, yeah," she nodded emphatically. "So, what's eating you?"

"It's personal," he replied flatly.

"So, women, then," she said matter-of-factly. "Did Saeko wise up and dump your ass?"

"What do you want, Yoruichi-san?" he asked with a sigh.

"Wait, did I hit the mark?"

"No, Saeko and I are doing fine, thank you."

"Huh. Strange, my sixth sense is telling me that this is definitely about a woman, but if it's not Saeko then...," she sniffed the air. "Hoh! It's about your guardian right? Her scent is almost completely gone around here. Did you two had a fight?"

"Yoruichi-san... please, drop it. I appreciate your concern but it's not helpful."

"Damn. This is the first time I see you this stumped. What happened to your usual approach?"

"I have an usual approach?" he asked, curiosity piqued. Shirou wasn't one to worry about what other people thought of him, but since recently that has started to become an issue for others maybe it was better if he understood how the people around him saw him.

"Sure you do. You usually bludgeon whatever problem you have until it's fixed. It's almost cute to watch."

"Seriously?" he frowned. "I don't think I'm like that, am I?"

"Ehhh, maybe it's a bit unfair on you, I'll give you that much. You aren't really that ham-fisted, but you usually do hit at the problem until it's solved. At least, it's not like you to leave things to fester."

"Is it bad to think things through for once?"

"Not necessarily," she shrugged. "But it's not like you, and if I were someone close to you, that behavior would either mean that you care a lot... or not at all."

"Wh- Of course I care about Taiga!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah. I can see that clear as a day. The question is... does she realize it also? I have no clue about what went down between the two of you, but won't she think that you care so little about what happened that you won't even bother fixing it?"

Shirou blinked once, then he spun around and dashed out of the door so fast that he left a blur in his wake.

Yoruichi stared at the empty spot he just vacated and chuckled. "You're welcome, brat."

* * *

"Ohh, if it isn't little Shirou," Fujimura Raiga, Taiga's grandfather and Oyabun of the Fujimura Zanbatsu said as Shirou screeched to a halt in front of the gate of his mansion. He was about the climb into his car escorted by four of his men. "I haven't seen you around in a while."

"Raiga-san!" Shirou said without preambles as a way of greeting. "Is Taiga at home?"

"Such rush," he laughed. "No, my little tiger hasn't been around much lately. She seemed to be quite under the weather these days. Would you happen to know anything about it, young man?"

"Yes. I hurt her. I didn't mean to and I have to fix it. Where has she gone?"

"Oho," Raiga grinned wolfishly. "Owning up your mistakes is a praiseworthy trait to have, Shirou-kun. However, what are you going to do if I decided that she'd be better off not seeing you again?"

"Raiga-san! You have been nothing but kind to me over the years. I am forever in your debt for the help you gave to both me and my late father," Shirou said bowing as the waist. "That said, if I have to go through you and your men to find her, I will."

His declaration caused Raiga's men to burst out laughing, but the Oyabun himself was not amused. However, he didn't look upset either.

He tapped his cane on the asphalt once and his men fell immediately silent.

For a long moment, he stared Shirou square in the eyes.

Although he was probably the most laid back Oyabun in in all of Japan's history, Fujimura Raiga was very much a Yakuza to the bone.

He had seen and perpetrated his share of violence and he had witnessed people die in several occasions. Many of his brothers had lost their lives in the tumultuous years following the end of World War II, fighting to their last breath to defend their family and their honor.

Circumstances differed, but Raiga had learned to know what face a man makes when he stands up for the things he believes in, willing to put his lives on the line.

Above all, he knew their eyes and they were the same as Emiya Shirou's right that moment.

Raiga grinned. It seemed that the modern era had yet to extinguish the blazing blood that had run so strongly in the hearts of his generations.

"I can't be sure, but I know she has a friend in town running a bar called the Copenhagen. If she's in the mood to drown her sorrow, she probably went there."

"Thank you!"

"Oi, Shirou!" he shouted after him, causing him to stop and turn around. "One mistake I can forgive, but if you make her cry again my men will have to go through you."

"If I'm ever that dumb to make her cry again, I'll deserve it!" he promised before turning around and making his way toward the city.

"Eh!" Raiga chuckled after Shirou had turned around the corner at the end of the street. He then climbed into his car and left in the opposite direction as him.

"Uh, Boss?" the driver called, looking at him in the rear-view mirror. "I know you have a soft spot for the kid, but are you sure it's wise to let him get away with such disrespect?"

"Hm? A kid? Is that what you saw?" Raiga answered. "No wonder you're still just a foot soldier at your age. No, the day I first met him, Emiya Shirou was already no longer a child, but now it seems that he has blossomed into a fine man. A bit young, maybe, but a fine man indeed. Hm. It seems like my grand daughter has inherited my eye for people after all. Mwaahahahaha!"

The car sped toward its destination, carrying a thoroughly amused Yakuza Oyabun and his perplexed underlings, who really had no clue what he was on about.

It wasn't an unusual occurrence at all, so they just rolled with it as they had become accustomed to do.

* * *

Taiga sat at the counter, nursing a glass of liquor in her hands.

The quiet atmosphere of the Copenhagen, with its soft lights and its few patrons, was the right place for her to slowly drink herself numb. She wasn't one to get drunk easily, courtesy of year of celibacy drowned in alcohol. A state of being that was likely to continue to her last days.

Neko, her friend and owner of the shop, knew what the score was. Upon seeing her coming in with that face, she immediately poured her a glass of her strongest spirit without asking a single question.

Taiga appreciated the thoughtfulness, but it did not ease the feeling of loneliness in her heart. Still, it was better she got used to it for good.

The transfer request had gone was lucky to have found an opening at the local high-school. Starting on monday, she wouldn't teach at Shirou's school anymore.

That way, she would no longer have to meet him unless it was absolutely necessary for a legal matter. Maybe it was irresponsible of her, running away like that, but Shirou was already an adult, perhaps more than she was.

He would be fine. He would definitely be fine… without her.

On cue with that thought, the door opened with the sound of a bell chime.

"Welcome to…" Neko-chan said, stopping mid-greeting. "Hey, are you lost little one?"

"There you are," the unmistakable voice said. Taiga's head whipped around so fast that she very nearly threw herself off the stool.

"S-S-Shirou?!" she yelped.

"Oh? Is this your ward, Taiga?" Neko asked. "You didn't tell me he was this cute."

Shirou who would usually fluster at being complemented in any way didn't even seem to register her friend's words. He was pointedly looking at Taiga with an intensity that made her want to shrink.

"Come home," he simply said approaching her. "Please."

Even at a time like this, after she had failed and let him down so deeply his voice was full of care.

She couldn't take it.

"Taaaah!"

With a feat of agility that was worth of the feline that gave her her namesake, Taiga lept above Shirou, who could only gape at the absurdity of her reaction as she sailed above his head.

She rolled on the ground and before anyone could say anything she was already out of the door.

Neko looked at Shirou, who looked back at her just as dumbfounded.

"Well," she eventually said, "aren't you supposed to take her back home or something?"

"... damn it," Shirou said, finally coming to grip with the situation and darting out of the shop in hot pursuit.

Neko and the remaining patrons were left staring at the place that the duo had just vacated. Strangely enough, no one was excessively surprised. Most of them were familiar with Taiga and her antics and while this was somewhat strange, it wasn't the strangest thing they had seen from her.

Eventually they returned to their drinks and conversations. Only Neko still looked at the half finished drink left by her old time friend.

"Could it be that she is…. Naah. That's just silly."

* * *

Taiga, Shirou had to admit, could run like the wind.

At that hour of the early evening, the walkways teemed with people. Running wasn't an easy feat even for someone with his dexterity and of his size, yet Taiga moved managed to move through the crowd like they weren't even there.

Thinking about it, Taiga's level was 25, which he had only just recently surpassed. Again, the only reason why he was much stronger than someone his level was because for a long time he favored grinding stats over making experience points.

Level did not equal to strength or ability, but rather it was a measure of one's experience. Just like his raw power was higher than what his level suggested, the same probably held true for Taiga, whose dexterity was seemingly higher than his own.

Shirou had a hard time keeping up with her and it was only because she was running mindlessly instead of trying to hide that he didn't lose her in the crowd.

Eventually, after the sun had completely disappeared behind the horizon, their chase took them all the way to the Memorial Park. No matter Taiga's level of fitness, her human constitution couldn't keep up with Shirou's Gamer Body. Once she reached the usually empty park, she slowed down and leaned against a tree to catch her breath.

Shirou also slowed down and stopped a few meters away from her.

"Are you done yet?"

"Don't you… know… when to quit?" she asked between gasps.

"I know when I mustn't," he replied flatly.

"Why?... Why won't you just let me be?"

"You're hurt. Do you really expect me to do nothing?"

"How can you… This is not your fault. I shouldn't have said anything. I should have just… This is all wrong."

She slid down against the tree, taking her face into her hands. "I'm a disgusting person. I should have put an end to the thing between you and that girl… not compete with her. You know that, right?"

Shirou sighed. In truth, Taiga was correct. In normal society, saying that his relationship with Saeko would be frowned upon would be an understatement. Taiga had the additional stigma of being his guardian, not to mention a surrogate sister. No one in ordinary society would accept a relationship between them.

He didn't know how long she had been harboring those feelings for him, but it mustn't have been easy for her.

"If you think so, why did you do it?" he asked.

"Because…. because I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand the thought of you being with someone else," she sniffed. "If… if she had been someone about your age… I would have been able to accept it but… if it had to be someone closer to my age than yours then…. then I wanted to be that person."

Shirou didn't understand. Even though he knew that his charisma played an effect on how attractive he was, this was a matter of affection. Taiga loved him. She loved him enough to do something she knew being completely wrong.

Shirou couldn't wrap his head around that.

"Am I really worth all the trouble?" he asked. Shirou didn't have an inflated opinion of himself, nor he suffered from low self-esteem. In truth, he didn't think about himself much at all, busy as he was thinking about everyone else. Every time he spared a thought about himself, it was either in relation to things he had to do, or how to better help others.

From the outside he could pass for a normal person, but his mentality was closer to that of a machine with a single, specific purpose. To save everyone.

Taiga looked at him incredulously. "Do you think that two grown up women, one of which drop-dead gorgeous, would even consider being in a relationship with someone your age if we didn't think so?"

At which, Shirou had nothing to say. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, he directed his answer to another part of her phrase.

"Saeko's pretty, too, you know?" he muttered.

Taiga frowned at the non-sequitur. Of course she thought Busujima was pretty. She just said she was gorgeous so why would he said that? Unless, he thought she was talking about someone else, it didn't make sense. Did he have a thing with that Yoruichi gal after all? But then the women would be three so….

Her eyes widened.

"Do you… you think I'm gorgeous?" she asked before she could stop herself.

"Eh… you weren't talking about yourself?" he blinked, then he looked away with his face of a vivid shade of red.

"But… but… I'm old."

"Compared to me, so is Saeko," he mumbled.

"And… her tits are bigger than mine," she insisted, with a faint and cruel hope swelling in her heart.

"What has that have to do with anything?" he hissed, whether in further embarrassment our outrage it was hard to tell. "Look, I'm not an expert but even I know relationships are not a contest. Saeko is Saeko and Taiga is Taiga. The reasons why I love her have nothing to do with the reasons why I love you."

Suddenly, the park was plunged into a deep silence, broken only by the sound of car traffic in the distance and the ruffling of the leaves on the trees around them, few as they were.

Eventually, Shirou decided to break the silence himself.

"I love Saeko. I can't talk about our circumstances, but we do care about each other. It's not just a fling. That said… my feelings for you are not inferior to my feelings for her. So, I can't stand watching you being hurt and think stupid things about yourself that just aren't true."

Taiga's lips parted, in preparation to give an answer. An answer that never came, because their conversation was suddenly interrupted by several hooded figures seemingly dropping down from the sky in a circle around the two of them.

"Kyaaaa?" Taiga shouted in fright at the sudden appearance.

Shirou's reaction was just a widening of the eyes and the dropping into a defensive crouch.

Among the sudden newcomers, one figure stood tall, towering above them all. He threw back his head and let out a booming laughter.

 **[Wei Kang]  
** **[Lv. 33]**

"Hahaha! We meet again, brat!"

Completely surrounded, Shirou slowly inched closer to a terrified-looking Taiga. This was not a good situation. Not in a hundred years.

Under ordinary circumstances, he was fairly sure he could take on these guys on his own. He was stronger, better prepared and equipped than the last time he fought them, while if their level was any indication they hadn't progressed much.

However, he was not alone in this. Fighting these men and keep Taiga safe was a task several magnitude more difficult.

How was he supposed to fight these guys, protect Taiga and hide the Moonlit World from her? Something had to be sacrificed in order to achieve victory.

To anyone else, it would be an inescapable conundrum.

To Emiya Shirou, it was a no brainer. He would not let Taiga be hurt. Not again.

The choice had already been made and the words that had long since come to represent his resolution rolled out of his mouth without hesitation.

 **"Trace… ON!"**

* * *

XXX

* * *

AN: Wooooh. Time for some shit to hit the fan. How will be the next chapter play out? Regardless of the outcome, things won't be the same ever again for Shirou and Taiga.

If you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing, please do leave a review. Additionally, if you would really like to show appreciation, why not visit my Pa treon account at Pa treon [dotCOM] / ichaichasennin. The story over there has gotten all the way to chapter 18.

Either way, thanks for reading this and for appreciating this story the way you do. Stay awesome.


	15. 0015

_What makes a man?_

 _What draws the line between adult and child?_

 _Is it age? Is it experience? Is it wisdom?_

 _Or is rather the will to step forth and bear the burden of one's own existence; of one's own choices?_

 _Emiya Shirou had made the decision to become a hero who could save everyone, with the knowledge that such thing is not possible._

 _"One is a hero only to the people he sides with," Kiritsugu had told him._

 _Even though he knew it for a fact, Shirou could never just accept it. Surely, if there was a method to save one person, then it should possible to save everyone._

 _He was willing to pursue this belief, knowing full well that he would never succeed, but intending to bet his own life on it all the same._

 _His life, and his life only._

 _If it came down between his and someone else's life, Shirou would walk to his own death without a moment's hesitation._

 _But this time, it wasn't his only life on the line. It was Taiga's._

 _It didn't matter who the other party was or whether they were right or wrong. The price for trying to lay an hand on her would have to be paid in blood._

* * *

 **[EMIYA SHIROU]**

 **[THE GAMER]**

 **[LV 25 - 22500/25000]**

 **[HP: 2500][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 850][SP: 10]**

 **[STR: 42][DEX: 43][INT: 50][WIS: 33][CHR: 77]**

 **"Trace... On!"**

The words that had come to represent Shirou's resolve rolled out of his mouth without hesitation. The stab of pain that came with the creation of a Nerve Circuit would have reduced an ordinary man to a puddle of tears.

Shirou barely acknowledged it.

With a series mental commands the Equip Menu appeared in his vision. Shisui was selected and equipped, appearing in his hand with a flash of light.

"W-what the hell?" Taiga nearly screamed. "Shirou, what-?"

But Shirou had no time to answer. The sword had barely materialized in his hand that he already had to put it to good use.

He whirled around and thrust it towards Taiga. The stab came too fast for her to do anything but flinch in place. The blade passed next to her face and dug into the shoulder of the man that was trying to sneak behind them.

"Aaargh!" he cried.

Taiga's face was splattered with warm blood, but before she had the opportunity to react in any meaningful way, Shirou grabbed her and pushed her to the ground, while at the same time yanking his sword out of the man he had just stabbed.

They came at him from every direction at once, holding blades of their own.

Taiga rolled on her back and watched. For a split second, her heart was seized by the dread of knowing that Shirou was about to die.

Then, the impossible happened again.

Shirou blurred into motion and started fending off six grown men simultaneously. His sword was as fast as lightning and the only reason why he had yet to cut down anyone was because he was he had no time to follow through with his offense that he was pushed on the defensive by another opponent.

Thunderous clashes of steel filled the night, as a child-sized man fought tooth and nail against those who tried to harm them.

Paralyzed by shock and disbelief as she was, Taiga would have thought she was having an alcohol induced hallucination if not for the tangible fear she felt. Even though there was no way this could be real, she knew it could not be otherwise.

Against her face she clearly felt the air being cut by the clashes of blades, just as she could feel the vibration of the ground underneath her from the deadly exchange going on all around her.

Unable to do anything but watch, she couldn't help but notice that she lay in the center of circle drawn by Shirou's wild dance. Everything around her was pure chaos, except for the spot where she was lay.

 _'He... he's protecting me,'_ she realized. She had no idea what was going on or why, but amidst all of this confusione there was this absolute certainty.

She was an expert kendoka and the nominal heir of a Yakuza clan. She had seen and been in fights, therefore she could clearly tell that Shirou was being forced on the defensive simply because she was with him.

They couldn't advance a single step past the line he had drawn. The absolute limit beyond which they were not allowed to get. An invisible wall made by a single blade and insurmountable determination.

This... was how Shirou looked when he fought for real.

They threw themselves against this barrier, against him, and all they got for their efforts was being pushed back just as strongly. If not for the fact that there were even more people ready to step in and take their places, their formation would already have long since crumbled.

She already knew he was powerful beyond what anyone his age had a right to be, but this was a different dimension altogether.

Just who _\- or what -_ was he really?

Wei Kang gritted his teeth. Twelve of his elite, hand-picked subordinates couldn't get the upper hand against a single brat.

Kang was not a fool. Emiya Shirou, as he had learned the brat was called, was strong. Not as strong as Kang himself, but certainly strong enough that his men couldn't hope to win even while the brat was being held back by the woman he was trying to protect.

Still, even confident of his own strength, Kang would not take necessary risks. He would let his underlings chip away at Shirou before stepping in himself and finishing the job.

And so he waited... and waited... and waited... and waited. Seconds turned into a minute, then two, then three, then four.

Five minutes into this relentless barrage and the balance of power finally toppled.

Not in the direction he expected it to, though.

One of his men was sent flying at him fast enough that Kang had literally to bend over backward to dodge it. The unlucky mook slammed his back against a tree with a sound of shattered bone and then crumpled on the ground without so much as a twitch.

Three more of his men followed soon after, while two others were cut down on the spot. They weren't outright lethal wounds but they were bleeding enough that they would die if not treated quickly enough.

They remaining six backed off very quickly and Emiya Shirou stood with his sword ready, looking completely unfazed by it all. His shirt was cut in several places and shallow wounds were bleeding all over his body. Yet, he didn't look like he was tired or strained in the least.

Kang knew he had yet to come at him just because it would mean leaving the woman defenseless.

"Brat... you are starting to become a headache," Kang growled.

"You came looking for me," Shirou replied, matter-of-factly. "You'll forgive me for not dropping dead to spare you the inconvenience. Now... how about we call it a night and we all go back home before even more people get hurt?"

"No," Kang said stepping forward and removing his cloak, exposing his bulging muscles and tree-sized arms.

"... Alright, then."

Shirou's stance lowered. The sword in his hand moved.

"Come!" Kang taunted with a ferocious grin on his face.

"I don't want to kill you," Shirou said in a voice that was as close as begging as he could muster.

"You are the only person who is going to die tonight. Your lady friend will live until I'll get tired of her, at least."

"Is that so? Then... I'm going to have take back my previous statement."

"Hmm? What are you on about?"

"I'm definitely going to kill you here, tonight."

Shirou dropped his blade and shot his arms outward. During the motion he equipped his Black Sparrow knife set and threw ten of them simultaneously. With his mastery of the throwing skill, he could easily direct even that many at the same time with sufficient precision to make them into an actual threat even to skilled fighters.

Six of them he sent at the remaining underlings, while four flew with deadly precision towards Wei Kang himself.

To his credit, the man reacted to the threat even before realizing what it was, smoothly dodging the almost invisible knives. His subordinates were less lucky as several cries of pain were heard, and several message boxes appeared in Shirou's vision.

 **[Wei Enforcer 7 (mid tier) defeated - EXP gained: 750]**

 **[Wei Enforcer 8 (mid tier) defeated - EXP gained: 750]**

 **[Wei Enforcer 9 (mid tier) defeated - EXP gained: 750]**

 **[Wei Enforcer 10 (mid tier) defeated - EXP gained: 750]**

 **[Wei Enforcer 11 (mid tier) defeated - EXP gained: 750]**

 **[You have gained a level]**

Shirou took advantage of the opening by grabbing Shisui, which had yet to hit the ground, and shooting toward Wei Kang with explosive speed, but Kang regained his footing in time to intercept Shirou's swing with his steel arm-guards. Shirou was then put on the defensive as Kang retaliated with his own sword, engaging him in a fierce exchange of blows.

Even though there was a substantial gap in level, they were nearly evenly matched thanks to Shirou's self-Reinforcement. Despite his composure, Kang's eyes widened at the sheer power behind Shirou's blows.

If not for his self-Reinforcement and the power of the Gamer Body, Shirou would have succumbed to the difference in body mass. Instead he was able to meet the much bigger man on an even grounds.

Still, regardless of that, Shirou had already failed. Rather than wait for Kang to come at him backed by his remaining subordinates, Shirou had opted to finish him in a single strike and then regroup with Taiga before the others could gather their wits. However now Kang was keeping him from going back to her. Unless he had been so lucky to simultaneously hit all six targets in immediately lethal spots, it was only a matter of seconds before they…

"S-Shirou..." he heard Taiga call with a feeble voice.

Shirou's heart fell, knowing all too well what he would see if he turned.

"It's about time you gave up, brat."

Shirou jumped away and this time, Kang didn't press him. Shirou craned his head and sure enough there was Taiga, with a blade poised at her throat. Five out of six of Kang's underlings were on the ground, completely unmoving. Dead, he presumed since he could no longer see a name over their bodies, but one had survived and had taken Taiga hostage.

"Shirou... don't give up," Taiga said, shaking her head. "He said he was going to kill me anyway."

"I know... I know but if there is just a chance that you may live... forgive me. I wasn't strong enough to protect you, after all."

His fingers loosened and Shisui fell on the cold ground.

Kang advanced with a victorious grin on his face. "Ah, you can die at ease, midget. I assure you that a few days from now she'll be more than happy of her new place in life, and if she puts herself to it with all of her heart, I might just pass her to my subordinated rather than just kill her once I tire of her"

"I'll warn you. If you harm a single hair on her head, I'll raise from the grave and drag you down to hell."

"Pfft. Sure. Let's see you do that," Kang chuckled before raising his blade and swinging it down.

"SHIROU!" Taiga screamed as spurt of blood ached through the night.

A moment later, Shirou's body hit the ground, cleaved from shoulder to hip, nearly bisected in half.

"NNNNOOOOOOOOO! SHIROOOOOOOU! SHIROOOOOOOU! SHIROOOOOOOOU!"

Kang turned around and advanced toward Taiga, who was struggling to get free from her captor's hold. He backhanded her viciously across the face, causing her head to whip in the other direction.

"Shut up!" He snarled. "That shitty brat cost me most of my best men. I'll have you pay back his debt plus interest, but I don't need you to have all your teeth still in your mouth to do that. You, call someone to clean up this mess."

"Hu- Shirou..." she hiccuped, tears flowing unbidden as she glanced one last time to the place where his body had fallen... only to find him gone.

"Boss!" the last underling called out. Kang spun around and in that moment something brushed past him. He heard the sound of a body hitting the ground and he knew without looking that his last man had just dropped dead where he stood.

He wouldn't turn his head to check though, as he was currently busy staring at an impossible sight.

Emiya Shirou stood on his own two legs, despite his torso being nearly cut in half.

Even though Wei Kang was born in the Moonlit World he wouldn't expect the man he had just killed to be standing back on his feet.

* * *

As far as gambit went, this was the most dangerous to date. He hadn't planned it until he found himself cornered.

It wasn't something one would see as a viable tactic, not even one like Emiya Shirou. True he he was willing to bet his life on his ideals, but coldly planning to get himself killed to get the drop on his opponents was a bit excessive even for him.

After Wei Kang cut him, Shirou saw his HP bar drop to zero. He felt his strength leaving his body and his vision darkened completely. All he could hear was Taiga cry out his name desperately.

There are no words to describe how much it hurt to be cut in half, to have one bones and organs destroyed. One lung and his heart had been reduced to useless lumps of flesh. His spine had been severed and his ribs crushed.

None of it hurt as much as hearing Taiga cry like that.

He wanted to move. He wanted to get to her. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to hold her.

And then, a message prompt appeared in the darkness.

 **[DIE HARD MODE: ACTIVATED]**

Light immediately returned to his eyes as if someone had flicked a switch.

In truth, the blood loss and the approaching of death had greatly lessened the amount of pain Shirou could feel. Now that his senses were returned in full, it crashed against his mind like a violente barrage.

Only an idiot would believe that living past the point where one should have died could be a blessing. Useful or not, it wasn't an ability just anyone could live through with their sanity intact, even should they be bestowed with it.

It was not a gift, but curse. It was hell on earth and only a fool would willing go through something like that.

As there was no greater fool in the world than Emiya Shirou, he gritted his teeth and willed his body to move.

However, even though [Die Hard] allowed for continued action past the point of death as long as the energy to spare without suffering a decrease in his stats, it didn't change the fact that his body was nearly completely bisected and therefore lacked the structural stability to pull himself up, Gamer Body or not.

It didn't seem like his organs needed to be in working order for him to act at full capacity, nor a spine to transmit his will to his limbs. Everything inside him worked according to the Mystic Eyes of Game Perception, but everything outside was bound to regular, Gaia-enforced physics. Hence when he tried to pull himself up he folded like a puppet with half its strings cut.

A puppet with blood and organs trying their hardest to get out of its torso.

He needed to stabilize himself somehow. A way to… sew himself together. He was scrambling his brain to find a solution when Taiga's cries were interrupted by the back of Kang's hand hitting her face.

Shirou grabbed Shisui, which was still laying next to him where he had dropped it, and unceremoniously stabbed it across his own torso connecting the two mangled halves together like a horrific stitch.

Without sparing a single moment of consideration for the gruesome act he had just performed on himself he rose to his feet.

He saw the last underling notice this movement. Shirou had a split second to equip another Black Sparrow and threw him between the man's eyes, while Kang was still turning around to see what his subordinate had just witnessed.

 **[Wei Enforcer 12 (mid tier) defeated - EXP gained: 750]**

And so the last surviving conteders both stood, staring at each other.

"... what the actual fuck," Kang eventually said, disbelief etched into his voice.

Shirou saw his opportunity and seized it. With a single burst of speed he crossed the distance was on Wei Kang again. With his primary weapon currently busy holding his body together, he had to disregard any doubt about feasibility and just fucking do it.

 **[Projection: Success]**

Another Shisui appeared in his hands, every bit as real and lethal as the original. Kang raised his arm-guards to parry again, but unlike earlier he was one fraction of a second too late.

The fake Shisui found Wei Kang's unprotected neck and sunk into his flesh. At the same time, in a last ditch attempt at saving his own life and ending that of his enemy, Kang stabbed Shirou's already broken heart.

They were both killing blows, but only Shirou could temporarily disregard something like that. He didn't even get a prompt for an HP loss from his Gamer Eyes. He was already at zero anyway.

They both kept pushing their blades into each other. Shirou saw Kang's horrified look as he realized that his struggle was a pointless one and that his own death was inevitable.

He gurgled something that Shirou interpreted as a curse addressed to him. At least, the blood that Kang spat in his face in the process made him think as much.

Eventually all light left the man's eyes and his huge frame fell sideways, dragging Shirou down with him.

He hit the ground hard and the impact dislodged Kang's blade from his chest.

He lay on the decrepit grass, looking up at the starry night sky. It was a beautiful sight that belied the tragedy that had just occurred underneath it.

"Taiga...," he called out. "Taiga are you alright?"

He turned his head and found her sitting on the ground, next to the body of the man he had killed. Her eyes were wide and shocked, with tears still flowing down her face.

Even at a distance, Shirou knew that she was trembling.

"Taiga? Are you alright?" he grunted, pulling himself up from the ground and approaching her.

Taiga didn't move. She was rooted in place by sheer, unadulterated horror, looking straight ahead without daring to look at the personification of death that was getting closer to her.

Shirou knelt next to her and brushed her face with his finger. She flinched at his touch, but she did not pull back, possibly believing that he would tear into her if she tried to get away.

It wasn't surprising, really. She had just witnessed him being killed and then getting up like a zombie. That after watching him kill several men with blades summoned out of nowhere and fighting at speeds that normal human couldn't comprehend.

Even Wei Kang, an experienced warrior that actually lived in the Moonlit World was freaked out to the point of dropping his guard long enough for Shirou to kill him. Of course someone like Taiga would be completely shell-shocked.

So, Shirou just kept gently caressing her cheek.

"It's okay. Everything's okay, Taiga," he lied. His body was damaged beyond repair and he had less than a quarter of his stamina left. Without doing anything, at that rate he would be completely dead within a few hours.

Eventually hearing his voice Taiga dared to look up and into his eyes.

"S-Shirou?" she asked in a whimper.

"Yeah," he nodded slowly.

Taiga's eyes darted around, looking at the several dead bodies scattered all over the place and then finally settling on him.

"W-what is...? Why are you...? Who were...?"

"It's a very long story and I don't have much time left in this state. We've got to get back to my place."

Her eyes dropped to his injury and she blanched even further. More tears swelled into her eyes as her hands cupped his face.

"Are you... are you going to be fine?"

It was not a question. It was a plea.

He glanced at his stamina which was quickly dropping. Once it reached zero, he would die for good. He did not have a single mean to restore his health other than...

"Do you have a phone?" he asked without answering her question.

"Y-yes, why?"

"I need to make a call."

With trembling hands, Taiga pulled out her phone and handed it over.

Shirou quickly punched in a number and brought it to his ear.

"Yes, I'm looking for Matsumoto-san. ... . Yes I know. Yes, it's an emergency. I'll wait."

"Who... who are you calling?" Taiga asked.

"Someone who can help me out. I need to get back home to recover from these wounds. I can't exactly walk there or call a cab in this state."

"Gramps... he could send a car."

Shirou sighed while he waited for the call to be switched to Matsumoto.

"Fuji-nee, this is beyond what the Yakuza can handle and I'd rather not involve your family with this mess. Ah! Matsumoto-san, it's Shirou. I need to ask you a favor. Yes, I know that's not how Soul Society works, but you are the only person I could call... Thank you. Do you have a car? Can you pick me up at the Fuyuki Memorial Park?" he glanced at the dead bodies scattered all around. "And, huh, could you also bring a shovel? ... Yeah, it's that bad. Thank you, Matsumoto-san. I owe you big time."

Having said that, he hung up the call and gave the phone back to Taiga. Shirou would have called Yoruichi, but he didn't think she had a phone and at this hour she was down in the Abyss and there was no line or receptiong down there. Matsumoto was usually up in the Velvet Room unless business demanded otherwise. Besides, Shirou was positive Yoruichi did not have a car. Or a driving license.

"Let's move away from here," he told Taiga as he stood up and offered her his hand. Taiga looked at him, at the impossible wound on his body and lastly at his waiting hand.

Slowly, she reached out to it and pulled herself up as well.

She wobbled and nearly fell. Shirou stepped forward and grabbed her.

Through their point of contact, Shirou could feel how cold Taiga was and how fast her heart was beating. It was a testament to her strength of mind that she was still mostly functional.

Of course she was still scared. Certainly of Shirou himself as well, in no small part. In his current conditions he would look like a zombie to anyone.

"I'm never going to hurt you, Fuji-nee," he told her, caressing her hand with his thumb. "I promise."

"O... okay," she nodded.

She followed him to the the tree-line not too far from the place where the fight had taken place and they both sat down on the grass.

"I think you have figured it out by now, but I'm not exactly a normal human," he said after a moment. "I'm a wizard... or a Magus as we call ourselves."

Taiga was silent for a moment.

"Like... like Harry Potter?" she asked tentatively.

"Nothing so whimsical," Shirou replied, shaking his head. "Dad always said that being a Magus is to walk with death. I guess tonight really drove that concept home."

"Kiri... he was a wizard too?"

"Yeah," Shirou nodded. "It was him who taught me how to do Magecraft."

"And those… those guys back there too?"

"No, they were...," he blinked. "Actually I don't really know who they were. Some time back I got in their way when they were trying to kill someone else and I guess they didn't want to let me get away with it."

There was a deep, poignant silence as Taiga tried to reconcile everything she just learned with what had happened.

In the meantime, Shirou summoned an onigiri from his inventory as inconspicuously as he could he started eating it. If possible Taiga looked at him even more disbelievingly.

"Huh. This probably look gross," he concluded. "Sorry, I need to restore some energy or I'll die."

"Can you eat in that state?"

"I have… a peculiar constitution even for a Magus. My body isn't exactly normal."

"Shirou, did you ever use Magic on me?" she asked

"Huh? No, of course not. I can't do any magic that would affect others, and even if I could I wouldn't do it to you."

"Then… then why didn't you ever tell me about any of this?"

"It is supposed to be a secret, you know. People who live in the Moonlit World are bound to hide it from normal people."

"Moonlit… what?"

"It's a very long story. Fuji-nee. Sorry, I'm not in the best conditions to explain anything right now. I promise I'll tell you everything tomorrow."

"W-why tomorrow? How is tomorrow going to be any better?"

"Because I should be completely healed by then," he explained. That, or he would be dead for good.

Taiga didn't object to this statement. Shirou had already performed things that she didn't consider possible and by throwing in something as vague as Magic she was ready to believe almost anything.

The silence continued indefinitely and was broken only some time later by the sound of approaching footsteps. They were soft steps, but there were arguably several people.

Shirou moved closer to Taiga and they both scrutinized the darkness for the newcomers.

Three figures approached the place where the bodies lay.

"Huh, would you look that," one male voice said. "Did the kid do all of this on his own?"

"Hey, isn't this the Wei clan?" another one asked. "These guys weren't pushovers. Are you telling me they were done in by one brat?"

"It sure looks that way. Oi, Shirou-kun are you here?"

Shirou sighed in relief. This voice was one he recognized.

"Matsumoto-san. Over here."

He stepped out from behind the trees and he felt Taiga follow him, clinging with one hand to his tattered shirt.

"There you are, midget," one of the two men with Matsumoto said. He had bright red hair brought up to look like a pineapple and he sported outrageously tattooed eyebrows. Shirou had seen him around in the Reverse Side, but he didn't know his name. "Who the hell do you think we are, your fucking clean up crew? I oughta smack you over the- **SWEET FUCKING JESUS!** "

As he came closer to the group the faint ambient light was enough to illuminate the extent of his wounds. The man's reaction was somehow understandable.

"How the hell are you standing like that?" he asked. "Shit, how the fuck are you even alive? Are you a goddamn Apostle?"

He held a shovel with both hands, clearly ready to bash Shirou's head in if necessary.

Matsumoto stepped in front of him and regarded Shirou with a worried look that barely belied her interest.

"Are you alright, Shirou?"

"... not really," he grunted painfully. "Thank you for coming, Matsumoto-san. I need to return home quickly before I die from my wounds."

The other man laughed. He was a skinny looking man with a shaved head.

"You should have died the moment you got them, then."

"I can take you home no problem," Matsumoto agreed, cutting the chit-chat. "You and..."

"She's my guardian. Fujimura Taiga," he explained. "She got caught in the crossfire."

"I see. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Fujimura-san, though the circumstances could have been better. Please, follow me to my car and I'll take you both home."

"Ah, about the bodies...," Shirou started to say.

"Don't worry about it," Matsumoto cut off with a wave of her hand. "These guys will take care of it. They were just slacking around and getting drunk when you called me, anyway."

"Bitch, you were right there getting plastered with us," Pineapple-hair muttered, but he immediately started shoveling when Matsumoto shot him a murderous glare. The other guy just cackled and followed suit, shaking his head in amusement.

"Thank you, both of you," Shirou nodded. He would have bowed in gratitude but he was barely holding together. Literally at that. "I am in your debt."

"Yeah, whatever. Just get going before you fall apart on your lady friend. Fucking Magi and their fucking bullshit, I swear."

They followed after Matsumoto and they climbed into a black sedan with tinted glasses.

The car took off through the streets of Fuyuki, with Shirou and Taiga sitting in the back.

Taiga wasn't catatonic, but she was still very much shocked, looking straight ahead and holding Shirou's hand in a vice-like grip. The Gamer Magus had no clue what to say to make her feel better. The only consolation was that she still trusted him enough to cling to him in this moment of absolute uncertainty.

Maybe, if he had been a better Magus he could have made dull her memories and make them more bearable, but that wasn't an option for him.

There was little to no traffic at that hour and about fifteen minutes later they were in front of Shirou's house.

"Are you sure you're going to be fine like this, Shirou?"

"Yes, thank you, Matsumoto-san," he lied again. He wasn't actually sure it would work. He had never been hurt to his extent before. so he never looked into healing himself. To this day, he had only recovered any lost health simply by going to sleep in the evening.

Would it work this time as well, while he was technically running on fumes? He had no way of knowing until he tried. If it didn't work it would be GAME OVER for him.

They got off the car and Taiga helped him to his room.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find a way to return the favor some day," she winked, playfully. "I'll see you at the Velvet Room once you're all better."

They got off the car and into the house, with Taiga supporting him as best as she could and leaving a trail of blood all across the wooden floor.

As he stumbled towards his room Shirou caught himself thinking that it would be a bitch to clean up in the morning after it had dried up and he wondered if he'll get a specific skill for getting rid of the bloodstains.

Eventually they made it to his room and Taiga gently lowered him to the floor while she pulled out a futon from the closet. She was running on autopilot, doing everything he asked of her without question or hesitation.

While she did that, Shirou took some bandages he had conveniently stowed away in his closet and started wrapping his torso in preparation of removing Shisui. He didn't know if having something stuck in his body would get in the way of whatever regenerative process the Gamer power used to restore him.

"Sorry about this, Fuji-nee. I promise I'll tell you everything in the morning."

She just nodded, unable to say anything in response.

"Can... can I sleep here with you?"

"Yes, of course," he quickly agreed. In truth, he would have asked it himself if she hadn't done so first. He had gotten so close to losing her earlier that he didn't want her to go anywhere too far from him. At least not right now.

"You might want to look away for this part," he suggested after she helped him into his futon. She understood what he meant when he reached for the hilt of the katana sticking out of his chest and she promptly turned her head away.

He yanked it out and dropped it on the floor next to him. More blood dripped out of the new hole, but not too much. His heart was cut in half so it wasn't pumping, otherwise it would have squirted blood all over the place. He would have to throw away the futon and some of the tatami in the morning, but it really wasn't an issue worth worrying about.

The bandages he had put on earlier did their work in keeping his body together and so he lowered himself down and pulled the covers over himself.

In the meantime, Taiga had pulled out another futon and laid it next to Shirou's.

"Don't you want to take a bath and change clothes?"

Taiga shook her head. Right then, she was too scared and shocked to go anywhere. After turning off the light, she crawled under the covers and curled into a ball. A moment later, Shirou felt her hand slip into his and he held onto it firmly.

"It will be alright, Fuji-nee. I promises."

She just squeezed his hand tighter without saying anything.

Shirou sighed and closed his eyes. Under the covers, unseen by Taiga, he took out a bottle of painkillers from his inventory and put a several pills into his mouth. He had tossed it inside his inventory in case someone else ever needed them. He did not expect he would have to use it himself. The amount he had taken was about four times the maximum recommended daily dose. There was just no way he would fall asleep otherwise with those wounds.

That amount of pills was enough to kill a grown man, but having a Gamer Body meant that one would die only from losing all HPs, [Die Hard Mode] notwithstanding, and since he was already past that point the only thing he got was an intense drowsiness.

 **[Altered Status: Heavily Numb]**

The Gamer Eyes confirmed what his other senses already told him. He felt the pain slowly recede and his eyelids becoming heavier with each passing second.

Within minutes he was sound asleep. The last thing to be swallowed by blissful unconsciousness was the faint warmth of the trembling hand he held into his own.

* * *

Taiga felt Shirou's hand slowly relax as he slipped into sleep. She just tightened her own hold on it, afraid that he would disappear if she let go in the slightest.

Everything that had transpired that night had left her shocked or terrified, but nothing had made her experience despair like that moment when she thought Shirou had died. Even now she wasn't sure that she hadn't just gone insane from grief and that his impossible resurrection wasn't just a product of a shattered mind.

Even though she was exhausted, she did not dare to fall asleep, afraid that of what reality she would wake into come morning.

She would have loved nothing more but to have dreamed everything from start to finish, even if that meant that she had hallucinated Shirou's profession of love.

She would gladly give that up if it meant he would not die, so that he would not disappear from her life.

Even though she had already made the choice of giving up on being with him in any shape or form, she would have been content of watching him from afar.

As long as they lived under the same sky, she would have been fine with it.

But when she thought she had lost him for good it had felt like her heart had been ripped out of her chest.

The emptiness left by his loss, however temporary, had shaken her mind more than the violence she had witnessed and suffered, or the revelation of magic. Only Shirou's comforting touch abated the inner maelstrom of emotions that was sweeping her left and right.

Thus she held onto him.

She held onto the man that had faced death, brought death and defied death all to protect her.

After that night, Taiga could no longer trust heaven and earth to keep their places, but she knew without the shadow of a doubt that no matter what came to pass, she could always hold onto him.

For the time being, it would be enough.

* * *

XXX

* * *

AN: Hell yeah! Badass Shirou is badass. The [Die Hard] title finally came into play for the first time, though with Shirou being Shirou it won't be the last time. Anyway, Taiga's arc is about to reach its climax in more ways than one. *wink*wink*

Many kudos to my beta Zaiaku for his proofreading of this chapter.

Don't forget to read and review. Your opinion is always valued.

Also, if you want to read more of my stuff, both original content and fanfiction make sure to visit my Pa treon account at "pa treon [dotCOM] / ichaichasennin"

Thanks


	16. 0016

Matsumoto returned to the Fuyuki Memorial Park to fetch her drinking buddies. By the time she had gotten there, the bodies had already been buried. The scarce visitors and the decrepit look of the place more or less insured that they would not be found for very a long time, if ever.

After picking up her friends, they returned to the Velvet Room, where she instructed Renji to get Shirou's blood off the seats.

The redhead bitched but did as he was told all the same. Matsumoto had enough blackmail to shame him into oblivion if so she desired. She wouldn't, but Renji did not need to know that.

That's what the fool got for thinking he could out-drink her.

She made her way down to the Reverse Side through the Ahnenerbe and then strolled into the Urahara Shoten.

"Welco- Oh, it's just you," Yoruichi said, losing whatever shred of enthusiasm she had.

"Well, fuck you too," Matsumoto replied easily, closing the door behind her. "And here I was, trying to give you some good news."

"Ha! Your news are usually good only for yourself. I remember last time you-"

"The Wei Clan is over."

"- did that... Say what now?"

"The Wei Clan is done for. Its top fighters are all dead. Wei Kang included."

"Are you kidding me?" Yoruichi asked, clearly unconvinced. "As a group those guys were a pain in the ass even for me."

"I suppose they just underestimated their opponent, though in their defense, I too would have dropped my guard if I cut Shirou in half like they did and he still kept coming at me."

Matsumoto had barely finished that sentence that Yoruichi had somehow gotten past the shop counter and had pinned her against the wall.

 _'Goddess of Flash, indeed,'_ she thought amusedly.

"What the fuck did you just say?" she hissed, inches from her face.

"Little Shirou called me to pick him up at the park, earlier. When I got there, Wei Kang and his buddies were all dead and Shirou was wounded. And by wounded, I mean he had been cut shoulder to hip, with his torso hanging to the rest of his body by a thread of flesh and by a katana that he used like a pin between the two parts. I'm not joking."

"... was he alright?"

"Which part of what I said made you think... Oh, right. I suppose you saw some shit in over a century, Grandma."

"Answer the damn question."

"He talked and walked... with a bit of help from his guardian. He said he would have been fine when I dropped them at his place, but he didn't sound too convinced of his own words if you ask me. I know you took a shine to him, so I thought you may want to know what happened, in case he doesn't make it."

"... fuck."

The door to the outside slammed open and only then Matsumoto realized she had been released. By the time she looked outside, the door to Ahnenerbe had already been opened and closed.

Well then, she had her share of fun at other people's expenses for the night. Time to get back to work.

She had a client scheduled in less than half an hour.

* * *

Yoruichi flew across the night of Fuyuki. It was far too early for roofhopping in her human form. There were still too many people moving about the city, but in her cat form was much slower. People don't randomly look up, unless they search for something they know about their eyes level. Besides even if they did, there was no way they could catch a glimpse of her at the speed she was moving at.

Moving in a straight line she went from the Red Light District to the residential area where Shirou's house was located in less than ten minutes landing right in the middle of the courtyard.

She stepped onto the wooden patio purposefully letting her footsteps be heard to announce her presence. It was not a good idea to sneak upon a wounded man unless you were planning of finishing the job.

When she got to his room, she slid the door open and had to move out of the way of a blow that would have split her head in two had it connected.

Fujimura Taiga stood in the room, with a bloodied katana held by heavily shaking hands.

"Stay back!" the school teacher threatened. Behind her, Yoruichi could see a futon under which she assumed that Shirou was resting. At least she hoped he was resting, because he was far too still for comfort.

"Fujimura-san," she addressed the panicked woman. "I'm not Shirou's enemy. You remember me, don't you?"

"I... I don't know what's what anymore. Why are you here at his hour? How did you get inside? What do you want?"

Yoruichi took a step back. Taiga was in no way a threat to her when she was in her right mind, much less when she was barely keeping her wits. If anything she was more of a danger to herself.

"I heard from Matsumoto...-san what happened earlier. You've met her, yes? The people who attacked Shirou tonight... they were my enemies. Some time ago he saved me from them and gave me shelter."

She had never quite put it like that, even to herself. Shirou had saved her life and all she ever did for him was making things difficult for him.

"So... it's all your fault," Taiga concluded, hands gripping the sword more firmly.

Yoruichi flinched. It wasn't often that someone managed to make her feel guilty about anything, but the other woman's words had struck her on the same spot she was currently busy tearing open herself.

Part of her mind objected. She had not asked for Shirou's help that night on the bridge. He involved himself of his own volition.

That did not change the fact that it was because of her that he was grievously wounded.

Why did it matter to her what happened to him? She had outlived more people than she could count and she had learned to let them go and move on.

He wouldn't be the first person to die because they involved themselves with her. What set him apart from the rest?

 _'He reminds you of her.'_

She squashed that thought down viciously and returned her attention to the armed woman.

"I suppose it is my fault, Fujimura-san. Now, are you going to let me try and help him, or do I have to go through you?"

Taiga hesitated. "Can you help him? He said he would be fine by morning."

"So Matsumoto told me. She also told me he didn't sound too sure."

Taiga's looked away from Yoruichi and to Shirou's unmoving form. It was less than the time of a heartbeat, but it was a more than enough for Yoruichi to step in and yank the blade out of Taiga's hands.

"Ah!" she cried, stepping back defensively from Yoruichi.

"I just want to help," she whispered one last time, before turning and approaching Shirou-s prone form. She kneeled next to him and slowly pulled away the covers, revealing the blood soaked bandages wrapped around his torso.

She checked his breathing and discovered that there was none to be found. Even the his pulse was completely absent.

No matter how she looked at it, this a was a corpse. Shirou was dead.

She felt the familiar sense of loss, muted from having experienced it too many times in her far too long existence.

A single tears fell from her eyes and onto his face. Shirou's face frowned and his eyes darted around behind his eyelids. Then he was completely still again.

"He's alive," she said in surprise, releasing the breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"W-well of course he is," Taiga said indignantly. "He promised me he would be fine and he always keeps his word."

"Yeah, he's a stand up guy, isn't he?" Yoruichi snorted, surprise at the sheer intensity of the relief she felt. "Still, there's nothing I can do for him now. Whatever's keeping him alive in this state is beyond my understanding. Some type of Magecraft, I presume. Not exactly my field of expertise."

"So what now?"

"Now nothing," she replied, tucking him again under the covers in and standing up straight. "All we can do for him is trust that he know what he's doing."

"Does he?" Taiga asked. "Know what he's doing, I mean."

'If he did he wouldn't have taken me in,' her mind whispered. 'He would have let me to my fate.'

"I'd like to think so, yes," she replied instead. "And you should do the same."

"... I don't know what I should do about anything anymore," With those words, Taiga sat down on the tatami. "This is all too much."

"For what it's worth, you're holding yourself remarkably well. Ordinary humans don't fare all too well when they are introduced into our world."

"... the Moonlit World?"

"Oh? Got the introductory course from Shirou-chan already?" Yoruichi asked, reverting to her usual playful demeanor now that she was less worried.

Taiga shook her head. "Just a few bits and pieces."

"If you got any questions, I don't mind answering them."

"I...," Taiga started, but then fell silent. "No. He said he would tell me everything himself tomorrow. I... I think I 'd rather hear it from him."

"Hmm," Yoruichi agreed. "Alright then. There shouldn't be anyone else who would come after him because of me, but I better hang around until he's recovered. I owe him at least that much."

"Thank you," Taiga said with a nod of her head. "And... sorry about trying to kill you."

"Ha! Don't sweat it," Yoruichi laughed, handing back the sword she had taken from Taiga's hands earlier. "Anyone would have taken a swing at an intruder in the middle of the night, even if they hadn't been in your situation. You've got guts and I like that."

Taiga snorted and slowly relaxed a bit, looking better than she did before. Even though she had been completely outclassed, having had the opportunity to fight had restored a portion of self confidence and being in a familiar place with someone who she could now consider an ally put her at ease.

"I'll just go fetch a futon from my room and I'll be right back," Yoruichi informed, realizing what she had just said only after the words had already left her mouth.

The temperature in the room went for a steep dive and if there had been any music in the background, it would have stopped at the sound of a vinyl record scratching.

"What do you mean _your room_?"

Yoruichi winced. It seemed that among the many things Shirou had to yet explain to his guardian, there was the fact that he secretly shared a roof with an adult woman.

Yoruichi didn't need to ponder how that would look in the eyes of society. She wouldn't want to be in Shirou's shoes when he'd have to tell that part of the story, partly because she didn't want to be in her own shoes right there and then.

Fujimura Taiga was no threat to her, the difference in their ability was the same as night and day.

Yet, even knowing that, Yoruichi unconsciously took a step back when Taiga rose in one fluid motion, blade held to her side. If she didn't know any better Yoruichi could have sworn that the other woman's eyes were burning with an ominous light.

"Now that I think about it, Yoruichi-san, I do have some questions that I'd like you to answer."

Yoruichi told herself that the beast-like growls she could hear all around her were merely the product of her overactive imagination and that the shadows of the room were by no mean whatsoever closing down on her.

She knew she should have nothing to fear from Taiga, but she also knew that there are forces in the universe that are best left unchallenged, no matter how powerful one was.

Needlessly provoke a mothering tiger is a madman's endeavor.

"Can I just go fetch my futon real quick?" she asked in a last ditch attempt at getting the hell out of there.

Taiga smiled warmly but the room became a little colder instead.

"No."

Thus, one of the longest nights in Yoruichi's life had begun.

* * *

 **[EMIYA SHIROU]  
** **[THE GAMER]  
** **[LV 27- 1500/26000]  
** **[HP: 2700][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 850][SP: 11]  
** **[STR: 42][DEX: 43][INT: 50][WIS: 33][CHR: 77]**

* * *

 **[You have slept in your bed. HP, ST and MP completely restored]**

Shirou's eyes snapped open. For a brief moment, he didn't recall the events of the previous night, rather his mind grasped at the vanishing fragments of the dream he was having.

A dream made neither of swords or the fire which had forged them. No, oddly enough, he had dreamed of a tiger having shodown with a cat of all things. At least, that was the impression he got. As most dreams are wont to do, it had vanished from his mind after he had blinked a couple of times.

Grasping at straws, his mind latched on the memories of the previous night, and all that they entailed. The hand which he had been holding when he fell asleep was no longer in his grasp and he immediately sought its owner in the futon next to him.

It was so that he found himself looking into Shihoin Yoruichi's eyes, laying on her side.

The dark skinned woman looked back it him impassively.

"Finally awake, I see," she told him as if everything was perfectly normal, even though it clearly wasn't.

Firstly, Yoruichi hadn't been there the previous night. Secondly, Taiga was laying right behind her, drooling all over Yoruichi's neck, gnawing on the dark skinned woman's shoulder while she slept.

"Not a word," Yoruichi warned before Shirou could even think of asking a question.

"Bu-"

"Not. A. Word," she reiterated, and Shirou decided that it was for the best to do as he was told. For one, he did not want to incur in Yoruichi's wrath, but he also wasn't sure which Taiga-induced madness had brought this forth.

Some things were simply best left unknown.

He pulled off the covers, heavy from all the blood that had soaked them. This futon would have to go straight to the incinerator.

Standing to his feet, he marveled at the complete lack of pain. His wounds had completely recovered as he had hoped, which was further confirmed when he tore away at the bloodied bandages.

His chest was stained encrusted by dry blood, but there was otherwise no sign of the horrific injuries he had suffered.

He looked closer to a murderer rather than the murder victim he almost had been.

"Huh," Yoruichi said, taking note of his unblemished torso. "You actually recovered from something like that. You are tougher than a cockroach."

"Thanks... I guess," he replied, unsure whether he was being praised or insulted.

He had no chance to ask, as Taiga's eyes opened and slowly turned on him.

"Mwaah?... Shirou...?" she blinked and her eyes found focus, a nightful of memories flashing behind them. "SHIROU!"

He was knocked down by a striped blur before he had the opportunity to brace himself.

"Ooof!" he wheezed out as hit the floor. He found himself pinned on the ground by Taiga's weight, who was straddling him as her eyes and hands roamed his body, searching for wounds that were no longer there.

"You're alright... you are... you are... W-W-Waaaaaaahhhh! Shiroooou!"

It was so that he found his head buried in her bosom, while Taiga shed tears of unbidden relief.

Shirou couldn't have found it within himself to push her away in such a state even if he had wanted to. Instead he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back, prompting her to squeeze him even tighter.

Between her wails he heard the sound of Yoruichi standing up and leaving the room without saying a word.

Shirou didn't know what had transpired between the two women in the course of the night, but Shirou was nonetheless grateful to Yoruichi for being with Taiga while he couldn't. Later he would find a way to properly convey his gratitude.

For the time being he had a armful of tearful tiger to put at soothe.

Eventually, after some time, Taiga started to calm down. As her cries turned into hiccups, she loosened her grip on Shirou and he could finally crane his neck to look up at her.

"Sniff... don't you ... sniff... scare me like that ever again," she told him, drying the last few tears with her sleeves.

Shirou closed his eyes and sighed.

"I can't promise you that, Fuji-nee. To be a Magus is to walk with death."

"Then... sniff... stop being a Magus," she whined.

"I can't do that either. I promised Kiritsugu, you see."

"Promised what? That you'd get yourself killed?"

"That I would become a hero that can save everyone."

Taiga frowned at his answer, for it was what you'd expect from a child and in her eyes he had stopped being one an eternity ago.

She looked into his eyes and she knew that he was not joking just as surely as she knew that it was not a wish born of naivety, but the resolve of a man had just a few hours before had taken human lives.

No, Emiya Shirou was not a child. The last shreds of that misguided notion disappeared from Taiga's mind for good. The man in her arms was one who chose a path of hardship of his own volition. A path fraught with danger, blood and death.

She understood then that this was the reason why she had fallen for him, in spite of all logic and morals. Why she could not see a child when she looked at him.

Emiya Shirou had already exceeded mere mortal men and their small logics. Whether he realized it or not, he already was a hero. Perhaps not yet the one he was hoping to become, but he was a hero all the same.

With this realization, Taiga suddenly became aware of how close they were, of how the heat of his half-naked body warmed her own even through her clothes.

She was aware that he was was man and she was a woman.

Her throat was inexplicably dry all of a sudden and she found herself licking her lips unconsciously.

"Fuji-nee?" he asked.

"Shirou, I..."

 ***Grooooowl***

The famished beast in the depths of Taiga's stomach made itself known with the worst possible timing, shattering the moment they were having.

Taiga blushed a fierce red, looking away from him in embarrassment.

Rather than laughing or mocking her playfully as he was used to do, he held her tighter, burying his head into her chest with a sigh.

"Thank goodness you're fine. I don't know what I would have done if I had lost you."

Taiga's heart suffered a critical meltdown at his words.

Even though he already told her that he loved her, even though he had fought and killed and almost died for her, to hear these words from him made her heart swell with affection.

She hugged him back. Regardless of everything that already happened and still had to happen between them, they would alway be family to each other.

This much, they both knew beyond the shadow of a doubt.

* * *

They agreed to have breakfast together, provided that both got cleaned up first. Taiga returned home briefly to get a change of clothes, while Shirou took a much needed bath.

As he soaked in the hot water, he examined his body all over again. With the blood gone, there was no sign that he had been in a fight, no indication that he had been injured at all.

He had essentially bet his life exactly on this phenomenon, but that didn't mean it was any less flabbergasting.

Words couldn't describe how bad it hurt to have most of his major organs ruptured beyond recognition while being perfectly conscious, so he wouldn't go about doing it again if he could help it.

Still it was good to know that as long as he managed to sleep before dying, he would be back on his feet in the morning like nothing ever happened.

Satisfied that he understood his own powers better, Shirou got out of the water. He dried and dressed himself before getting out of the bathroom and into the kitchen.

Thanks to his high-level Cooking Skill, Shirou easily whipped up breakfast, before Taiga could return from her house, which she did right after he had done setting things up.

"I'm back!" she announced.

"Good timing. Come, take a seat. Let's talk while we eat."

And so they did. Well, Shirou talked for the most part. He told her about the Moonlit World and the creatures that lived in it. He told her of Magi and Dead Apostles, of the Church and Ghost Liners. He told her about the Reverse Side and the people who dwelled in it.

Yoruichi, Matsumoto, Saeko. People who saw that part of the world that others would rather believe a product of the imagination, because it was just as dangerous and it was terrifying.

For each subject he brought up, Taiga had dozen questions. Shirou did not have the answer to all of them.

His education in the supernatural was lacking. Kiritsugu did not want him to be a Magus and taught it only at his insistence.

Kiritsugu himself was a topic of great debate. His past was something that Shirou had learned only through Yoruichi and she did not paint a pretty picture.

The only thing that Shirou knew for certain was that Kiritsugu's dream was that of becoming a hero. How that led him to carry the moniker of Magus Killer Shirou did not know, but after the previous night he thought he had an idea.

By the end of it, it was nearly noon. Taiga was uncharacteristically silent.

"I think I understand now," she eventually said. Who would have ever thought there were things like that in the world? Who would have thought that her little brother was neck-deep into them? "There's no way I can convince you to quit that life, is there?"

"No," he shook his head. "I don't like fighting, but I know I must keep doing this. I want to become a hero and in order to do that, I must become stronger. There's no two ways about it."

She had asked, even though she knew the answer.

"Damn it," she sighed. "Why did you have to be so awesome?"

"I'm not!" he objected vehemently, blushing at the praise.

"Yes, you are, Mr. Wizard Hero."

"I'm not a hero, yet," he protested. "I've still got a long way to go."

"Pfft. Maybe not by your own standards, but you certainly are according to mine."

"W-what?" he sputtered. "I don't see what I did to-"

"You saved my life, Shirou. I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty heroic to me."

"Well of course I did. What else was I supposed to do? It's not like there was choice in the matter."

Taiga frowned at his words.

"Shirou... are you an idiot?" she asked. "You say that you want to be a hero, but you don't seem to regard anything you do as particularly worthwhile. Last night Yoruichi told me that you saved her too from the people who tried to kill us. Why did you do that?"

"Because it was the right thing to do, of course."

"But you didn't have to. You could have walked away and have nothing to do with that problem."

"No, I couldn't. If you see someone in need of help, you help them. End of story."

"Shirou... ordinary people don't go out of their way to help someone else when they could risk their lives in the process. Heroes are precisely those who can look beyond their own safety and protect others. You already are a hero."

* * *

 **[TITLE UPGRADE: HERO IN TRAINING - HERO (Beginner)]**

 **[Because of your deeds, some people acknowledge you as a Hero. You're only a beginner, though, and the road ahead is still long.]**

 **[CHR+25]**

 **[TITLE UPGRADE: CHARISMATIC (I) - CHARISMATIC (II)]**

 **[Your intense Charisma (100) makes you stand out to the people around you. All women will consider you attractive regardless of their sexuality. "Presence Concealment" and "Stealth" Skill Trees have been locked out.]**

"I'm... I'm a hero?" Shirou wondered, looking completely bewildered by the very notion. "That can't be."

"Actions speak louder than words, Shirou. Just like calling yourself a hero wouldn't make you one if you weren't, denying it doesn't make you any less so. Deal with it."

He couldn't deny what Taiga was saying. A hero is one who does heroic things. Even though he was trying to be one, Shirou never regarded anything he did as heroic. He simply did what he thought was right each time, wishing only for the people in front of him not to cry.

He never considered what opinion of his actions other people would have, but he now understood they would still acknowledge them regardless.

"Huh," was all that he could say in response.

"Why does look like you don't care at all?" Taiga asked. "Isn't it what you wanted?"

Shirou shook his head. "Honestly, I don't care. Wait, that's not what I mean. I want to be a hero, I just don't care if anyone think I am or not. However, I'm happy. Thank you."

"What for? I'm the one who's thankful."

"Well... Kiritsugu used to say that one person can't be a hero to everyone. That at some point you've got to choose whose hero you're going to be. No matter how many people I would have helped down the line, I just don't think I'd have been truly happy being anyone else's hero if I didn't get to be yours too. So... thank you."

* * *

Taiga suddenly felt incredibly lightheaded, and at the same time she there was a certain tightness in her throat. Her chest hurt as if her heart had shrunk a bit for no apparent reason, yet it was not an unpleasant sensation. Not at all.

Her vision swam a little and she had to grip the table to steady herself.

 _'I'm... I'm swooning,'_ she realized with a level of self-awareness unusual for her even when she was particularly clear-headed, but Shirou was looking at her so sincerely, with eyes filled with such affection for her that she found it difficult to breathe under his gaze. She could not mistake her emotions, not when they were so intense.

"Are you alright, Taiga?" he asked, seeing her lose her balance.

It was too much. Too much for her to endure any longer. She yearned to cross the gap that separated them... and so she did.

She reached across the table and yanked him forward by his shirt, causing him to yelp in surprise for the fraction of second that it took her to meet him halfway and smash her lips against his.

There was a moment of stunned hesitation and then he answered in kind. Gently grabbing her face with his small, strong hands he drew her in.

Their lips danced with each together awkwardly. It was her first kiss and it was different from how she had thought it would be on every level.

Yet, it was undeniable more than what she had ever hoped for. She had acted on an impulse and she had no idea what to do from there. Fortunately for her Shirou had more experience by far.

He pulled her delicately, twisting his body, lowering and laying her on the table, breaking the kiss in the process.

"Taiga…" he whispered looking down at her. She didn't think she ever heard her name being called that lovingly before. She found that she couldn't hold his gaze and she could look away either. "I love you."

If a human heart could collapse upon itself and the explode like a supernova, Taiga's heart would have.

"T-Then… make me yours, Shirou."

* * *

Shirou really didn't know what to think about himself and Taiga. Everything about the idea of them together was a mistake. Their ages, their legal standing to each other, their relationships up to that moment. Doing what he wanted went against every preconception he had.

Yet he could not deny what he felt of her.

Shirou wasn't any closer to figure out what love was and how it worked than the billions of men and women that came before him, but despite not understanding it that did not mean he didn't recognize it when he felt it.

He loved Taiga. He always did and always would. Then, wasn't it right to act upon those feelings? Society would have said no, but they had no say in the matter. Not anymore.

The only person whose opinion Shirou would heed at this junction was Saeko, and she had already given him the go ahead.

The last thing restraining him was Taiga herself. He never wanted to hurt her and he wouldn't have taken the next step with her if she wasn't fully aware of the implications of being with him beyond those that their status as guardian and ward implied.

Now Taiga knew about him, about his dream, about Magecraft and the Moonlit World.

When she reached across the table and kissed him, confirming her unchanged feelings Shirou threw all hesitations to the wind and kissed her back.

"T-Then… make me yours, Shirou."

Those words, laced with equal amounts of anticipation and fear shook his heart.

He wanted to ask her if she was certain, if she truly wanted this, but he would not look down upon the sheer courage it must have taken her to say those words.

He leaned down and kissed her once more.

With his twenty levels in Sexual Interactions over the equivalent of her couple of levels, Shirou might as well have been a master lover. His innate skills took over and his tongue brushed against her lips asking for admittance. She allowed it entry before she even realized it and by the time she understood what he had just done, his tongue was already working wonders into her mouth.

" _H..mmm?"_ she moaned, while shivers went down her spine. _'F-French kiss?'_

She hadn't expected that right off the bat. She had temporarily put out of her mind the knowledge that Shirou was more experienced in this sort of stuff than she was, even though she had witnessed him fucking his own sword teacher on this very same table.

' _That's right. Shirou already has a woman,'_ she recalled. She had even told her that he would not break up with Saeko for her even though he loved her just as much. Yet, she clearly heard Saeko tell him that she wouldn't mind if he had other women.

Did it mean he would actually do it? Yeah it probably did.

Taiga did not like the idea very much.

However, her heart was brimming with such love that she didn't know what to do with herself, and while his tongue danced into her mouth and his hands roamed the edge of her breasts over her clothes, she understood that she did not care how many women he was with so long as she was one of them.

Abandoning all those minor, unimportant thoughts, she fully focused herself on him, wrapping her arms around his head and matching the fervor of his tongue with her own.

' _I didn't know a kiss could feel this good,'_ she wondered in amazement, looking at him through half lidded eyes. Their mouths were making wet sloppy noises in the otherwise silent living room.

Shirou's hands caressed her sides, brushing against her breasts, then moved to her back holding her up while he ravished her lips.

She didn't even notice he had pushed the straps of her overall from her shoulders until he pulled her up and they fell down her arms. Why had she worn such an encumbering piece of clothing anyway?

Letting go of him for a moment, she slid her arms completely out of the straps and then embraced him again.

She didn't dare break the kiss. She wasn't sure she could look at him in the eye now that things had taken this turn. She was trying to be passionate even though she didn't know what to do, because the alternative was laying there like a dead fish.

So, with her eyes closed she let him do all of the work, while she busied herself kissing him with all the ardor she had for him.

He held her effortlessly, shifting her body as if it were made of feathers. At no point she was uncomfortable beyond the intense self-awareness the experience caused her, to the point that she only noticed that her had removed her overall when she felt a cold draft of air on her exposed legs.

"Ah…" she murmured, breaking off the kiss and looking down at her own body.

With the overall gone, she was only wearing her most familiar striped shirt and matching white panties. In her haste to return after changing clothes, she had forgone wearing a bra, and now that the thicker piece of clothing was crumpled on the floor, her turgid nipples were obviously poking at her shirt.

Her face turned an interesting shade of red and she looked away, but Shirou would have none of that. He took her chin between his fingers and forced her to look at him.

"I want to see more of you, Fuji-nee."

His fingers trailed slowly against her legs, from her knees up to her thighs, until they found her shirt and pulled it up.

Taiga's hand stopped him right there.

"Let me…," she told him. With trembling hands she started to slowly pull up her shirt, showing hesitation only when she reached her breasts, at which point she clamped her arms down around them.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"... they are small," she murmured. "You won't like them."

Shirou let out a scoff that was half amused and half exasperated. He leaned in and touched his forehead to her, brushing his nose and cheeks against her in an affectionate gesture, not unlike that of two felines.

"There's not a single part of you I don't like, Taiga."

He moved his hands behind her back, trailing the tip of his fingers against her skin until he hooked them with her shirt. His intention was clear and feeling the tug of his hands _\- asking, but not demanding -_ Taiga let go of her fears.

Round globs of flesh bounced once she dared to pull the piece of clothing above them. Pink and perky, they stood proudly before Shirou's gaze. Taiga bit her lip, waiting for his judgment, which came a moment later as his hand slid against her side and came to cup one gently, thumb lazily making circles around the stiff cherry of her nipple.

"Ah!" she let out at the sheer intensity of the sensation it caused. "Shirou…"

"They are perfect, Taiga. Just like the rest of you."

"... smooth talker," she complained hollowly.

Shirou pulled her closer and kissed her once again. Their lips pushed against each other more gently than before, with both their attention focused on what he was doing with his hands.

Taiga's breast weren't as generous as Saeko, but they were no less glorious to hold. They radiated a warmth that made Shirou want to play with them, tease them.

And so he did.

His gentle touch deepend and his grip tightened until his fingers where pinching at her nipple.

"Hm...Ah~!" Taiga half cried and half moaned and her legs shifted against each other. "Shirou…. is a meanie."

He chuckled and resumed kissing her. His hand however abandoned her breasts and danced slowly towards her hips until they found the edge of her panties, then he changed trajectory toward the middle of her body.

He felt Taiga stiffen in his embrace and he moved to her thighs caressing them just as expertly a master pianist would play a symphony. Taiga pulled away from his lips with a sigh and without looking up at him she parted her legs with painful slowness, granting him access to her most guarded place and the secret she had been hiding for a while.

On the white cotton of her panties there was an unmistakable patch of arousal, which had soaked through the material and onto her inner thighs.

"Sorry. You must think me a horrible woman," she whispered into his arms.

"There's nothing horrible about you… except your table manners, sometimes."

She looked up at him, pouting at his comment. "My table manners are imppeehh-!"

Shirou's finger brushed against her panties, in the general area where her clitoris should be located. The sudden stimulation made her let out a breathy gasp and she pressed herself against Shirou, to conceal her reaction.

Taking advantage of her state, Shirou put pressure on the wet spot with the tip of two fingers making slow, circling motions.

"Hm. Ah… Shirou… this is… ohhhh…"

It was different from what it felt when she did it herself. Better in many ways and yet somewhat alien. She could not predict his touch and every moment of contact sent shocking ripples of pleasure across her body.

Did he realize what he was doing to her? She dared look up and found him utterly focused, not a single hint of self-satisfaction to be found on his face. The only sign that he was into her was the red flush on his face… and the visible bulge in his pants.

She wanted to reach for it, see how it would feel under her touch, if not for the fact that Shirou chose that moment to pull aside her panties and get direct access to the folds of her womanhood.

The touch of his skin against the place where only she had ever threaded sent shots of fire across her lower abdomen. Her legs squirmed, feet slipping over the table.

"Hmmm... ooohhhh…. Shirou, what are you doing to meeeh?"

Shirou pushed his head away so that he could look at her in the eyes. His gaze was burning with affection and desire. In that moment, Taiga wished he would never stop looking at her that way.

Shirou leaned in, but rather than her lips, he aimed at her breasts. His mouth found one of her nipples and clamped on it. At the same time, his fingers parted her folds and intruded upon her innermost place.

"Ooaaah!" Taiga cried, throwing back her head under the combined assault at her intimate spots. Shirou timed the flick of his tongue around his nipples to be always out of sync with the thrust of his fingers inside her pussy.

Taiga could only squirm and clamp her legs around his arm to hold herself steady, while more and more of her arousal dripped along her thighs and onto the table.

To think that they would end up doing such a thing in there, a place where they regularly met as a family… In a way, there was a certain sense of vindication. On this table she had watched Shirou take another woman… it was only right that she would now reclaim it as her own.

This was her home… and he was her little brother. Come hell or high water, this would not change, even if they were about to become full fledged lovers.

On that thought, the pressure that had been building inside her reached the point of no return and with a throaty moan she finally climaxed.

"S-Shiroooooou! N-ahhhHH!"

She trashed involuntarily in his embrace while her pussy clenched hard around his fingers. For an unknowable time she rode the waves of her orgasms, until she was gently lowered down back on solid ground with her breathing labored like she had run for miles without moving from that spot.

It was so that she found herself lying fully on the table, with her legs dandling partly out of its edge. Shiro was above, looking down at her like she was perfection incarnate.

She had to sacrifice many things to be with him like him; her morals chief among them. She did not regret a thing. She couldn't, while he looked at her like that.

"Shirou… I want to be your woman," she all but begged.

"Taiga… are you sure about this?"

She nodded. Never before in her life she had wished something so strongly, so surely. She could no longer bring herself to care about other women and the norms of society. What did it all matter in the face of this, of him?

"Yes, I do," she confirmed one last time.

Shirou lowered his head and touched his lips to hers one more time. It was the softest of their kisses thus far and left Taiga wanting for more. However, Shirou had other intentions as he moved down, kissing her neck, her collarbone, her breasts, her navel, until his journey took him to the place where her sweet nectar was still oozing.

"Shirou…?" she asked, both expectantly and worriedly.

Shirou leaned in and found the gate which his fingers had only recently threaded past. Without warning or hesitation he placed his lips on it and started kissing that spot with through devotion.

"O...ohhhhhhh?" Taiga gasped in utter shock, hips buckling in response to the stimulation she was being subjected to, held in place only by Shirou's firm grasp around her thighs. Her arms sought something to latch onto, but the table didn't offer any such thing.

Thus her hands latched into Shirou's hair and at the same time her legs wrapped around his kneeling form.

The redhead was unbothered by all this. His focus was entirely on the savoring of Taiga's womanhood and the sweet nectar distilled in there. He drank it greedly, without wasting a single drop, without missing a single spot.

Taiga for her part couldn't even breathe. She was transfixed, mouthing in a silent gasp, eyes wide open in stunned amazement. Only the approaching of her second climax shook her out of her trance and by that point the only thing she could do was let out an unintelligible moan and release another wave of arousal right into Shirou's eagerly awaiting mouth.

" **Iiihiihhh! Sh-Sh-Shirouuuhhhh!"**

Her whole body tensed until all strength left her and she slumped bonelessly on the table, breathing in short gasps meant to restore her oxygen levels.

They had yet to get to the main course and she was already finding it difficult to grasp the intensity of the act. Why had she been hesitating doing this with Shirou? In her current state of mind she couldn't recall a single good reason.

She was brought out of reverie by the movement on the bottom of her vision. Shirou had stood up and was in the process of removing his shirt. She couldn't help but licking her lips at the sight of his chiseled chest. Then he unbuckled his pants and freed his erect manhood, standing proud and strong because of her.

It was the first dick she ever saw so she didn't have any frame of reference. Yet, she was intimately familiar with the size of her pussy and she knew that she would be stretched beyond what she had experienced until then.

Shirou stepped forth and lined his cock to the entrance of her drenched womanhood. Stopping only to look at her in the eyes before taking this last, irreversible step. She reached out to hold his face with her hands, a longing smile full affection on her face.

"Yes," was her answer to his unspoken question.

Slowly but surely, Shirou pressed his dick against her pussy and felt her folds give way to his invasione.

Taiga gritted her teeth, feeling the anticipated strain of her inner walls as well as the pressure on the barrier of her maidenhood. There was a brief moment of tension and then that last obstacle between their full joining was finally broken down.

"T-Taiga," he grunted as he held himself from moving to give her time to adapt.

Taiga inhaled and exhaled slowly, untightening the muscles that had been clenched from fear of the unknown. The pain of her lost virginity receded, helped in no small part by the constant lubrication of her intense arousal.

"Make love to me, Shirou. Make me yours once and for all."

There was no need for further invitations. Taiga's exquisite tightness beckoned to Shirou and he started moving his hips back and forth with slow thrust at first, which only increased in speed as time passed.

Shirou grabbed Taiga's hips and turned her on her side, holding her leg over his shoulder and the other under his arms, while his hips crashed against her pelvis with relentless abandon as if trying to get every last inch of himself inside her, to claim every step of the sacred territory he could reach.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!" Taiga gasped with each of his thrusts. She grabbed the edge off the table to steady herself and watched as her body rocked under Shirou's lovely assault. Her breasts bounced back and forth and without thinking she grabbed one to pinch her own nipple like she was used to do in her loney sessions adding yet another layer of stimulation.

There was no other similarity to her private masturbation moments, though.

Right then, she could feel every inch of Shirou's manhood and manliness. With every thrust of his hips he claimed another spot in her body, rubbing nexuses of pleasure she didn't even know existed. With every moan he caused her to let out, another little piece of her heart was conquered.

She was really, truly, undeniably becoming his. The depth of her womanhood was already preparing to receive his mark, even though she had never experienced it she knew she wanted it.

That same, familiar pressure built up again inside her, but before she could release it she felt him gasp and tense inside her. "Taiga!" he called out a second before a stab of heat spread through her pussy, advancing unchallenged to the very core of her femininity where it expanded to fill every single part her.

" **Oh my God! Yes…. SHIROOOU! YEEEEES!"**

Her third climax overtook her. The most powerful thing she had ever experienced in her entire life. Had her legs been free to move the would have wrapped around his torso to keep him firmly lodged inside her until the last of his seed had soaked into her very being.

Instead she had to hold herself firmly on the table as his hold on her was unshakable. His ejaculation seemed to go on forever, each spurt adding another layer of whiteness to her body and her mind.

At last, both of them came down from the high that had seized them, slowly losing the tension in their bodies. Shirou let go of her legs and lowered himself on her, laying his head on her breasts, while Taiga wrapped her arms around him to hold him close.

They were both sweaty and breathing raggedly, yet they had never been more at peace than in that moment.

Eventually Shirou looked up at her and she down to him. A moment of complete, unrestrained understanding passed between them.

Taiga smiled and craned her neck to lay a kiss on his head, before relaxing back against the cool wood of the table.

In doing so, her eyes fell on the picture of Kiritsugu up against the wall and she felt a strange mixture of emotions.

' _Sorry Kiritsugu,'_ she thought somewhat amused. _'I don't think this was what you had in mind when you asked me to take care of your son.'_

At that point, she couldn't even recall that at one point she had been crushing on the father of her current lover. The memory of those unrequited feelings had been completely drowned by her love for Shirou.

She didn't know where this relationship would go. Really she couldn't even begin to predict it.

What she did know for certain was that as long as she walked by his side, she would never regret it.

* * *

XXX

* * *

AN: Well, it's finally here, the long awaited Shirou x Taiga scene. I don't think there's many of that around that aren't part of a crack fic. I hope you found it suitably romantic and erotic. I put my heart into it.

See you next month for another update. Make sure to leave a review as well. Your opinion is always appreciated.

Additionally if you want to support me as a writer consider visiting my Pa treon account at "pa treon [dotCOM] / ichaichasennin"


	17. 0017

**AN: Sorry! This is the correct chapter!**

 **[EMIYA SHIROU]**

 **[THE GAMER]**

 **[LV 27- 1500/26000]**

 **[HP: 2700][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 850][SP: 11]**

 **[STR: 42][DEX: 43][INT: 50][WIS: 33][CHR: 102]**

* * *

Taiga woke up as the sun was starting to dip behind the horizon. She was laying on her back, feeling like she had been thrown in a washing machine.

Her body was sore. Muscles she didn't even know she had screamed in outrage when she tried to shift her weight even just a little bit.

It was the best feeling ever.

Her entire being was suffused by a sense of throughout satisfaction that she had never experienced before in, yet she had been craving for her entire life.

 _'So, this is the joy of being a woman,'_ she realized. It was a primal emotion, the awareness of having been claimed by a man.

And what a man it was.

Shirou was sleeping on top of her with his head resting on her breasts and arms clutching her sides. His small frame weighted next to nothing to compared to hers, yet for all intent and purposes she felt like he was the rock to which she was clinging to.

He made love to her throughout the whole afternoon. He carried her to his bedroom and made her body melt under his touch as much as her heart already had.

Most of it was a blur. At some point she had lost the ability to think and acted on a mere animalistic impulse. He filled her heart and he filled her body again and again and again.

She could still feel the heat from his semen burning deep inside the core of her womanhood, held in place by his shaft, still erect and buried within her folds. Belatedly, she noted that they hadn't used any sort of birth control. Would she get pregnant? Was she already?

She realized that rather than scared she felt an odd sense of excitement and expectation.

 _'... I want to have Shirou's babies. I want to be the mother of his children.'_

She was scared at the prospect of becoming a mother, but the idea of bearing Shirou's children spurred the heat in her womb even further.

However, would Shirou be willing to be a dad at such a young age? She knew he would take responsibility for it if it happened, that's just the way he was, but no matter how she looked at it she felt that in doing so she would be holding him back.

He had a future of greatness ahead of him and as much as she would love nothing more than be the mother of his children, maybe it wasn't the time yet.

If she wasn't already pregnant, she would start taking the pill immediately and if by any chance sh it was too late for that, well, she could raise their child on her own with the help of the Fujimura group.

She chuckled to herself. Yesterday she was planning to never see him again. Today she was dreaming of being the mother of his children. The involuntary shaking of her chest caused by her amusement was enough to wake him up.

Golden eyes as deep as the ocean bore down into hers and made her heart skip a beat.

"Hi," he said with a smile.

"Hello yourself," she smiled back. "Slept well?"

"Huh, yes. Sorry for falling asleep on you."

"I don't mind," she said ruffling his hair. "In fact, I think I'd have been rather cold if you hadn't."

They were both stark naked, and even though it was already spring, falling asleep naked and covered in sweat was liable to make anyone catch a cold.

"Well, thank goodness for that then. We should probably get cleaned up though," he replied as he made to pull himself up, inevitably causing his dick to shift inside her.

"Ah~!" she moaned. "S-Shirou. If you do that I don't think I'm going to let you go anywhere. Why are you still like that, anyway? Haven't you had enough yet?"

That was insane. They had been having sex for hours and he still wanted more? No wonder Busujima told him to find himself other lovers. There was just no way a single woman could ever satisfy him completely.

"S-Sorry," he stuttered. "It's just... you're so beautiful I just can't help it."

"Oh, Shirou," she sighed lovingly. "I don't think my body can't take anymore of you for a while."

"Did I hurt you?" he asked, suddenly worried.

"Nothing like that," she reassured. "But I am really sore. It has been pretty intense for me, you know? Maybe a hot bath will help."

"Of course. I'll get it started immediately."

He carefully dislodged himself and she didn't realize how much she missed his presence inside her until he was already out.

"Hmm," she complained wordlessly, curling on herself. A moment later, without need to ask anything, Shirou tucked her under the covers of the futon that had hosted their love-making session, before leaving to prepare the bath for both of them.

While he was gone, Taiga was left alone with her thoughts.

The day before she was a troubled woman with an unhealthy crush on her ward and surrogate brother. Today she was privy to the existence of Magecraft and assorted supernatural beings, on top of having become said surrogate brother's lover.

Life was weird(er).

To say that she was confused would be the understatement of the century. Where was she supposed to go from there onward?

Could she carry on with her regular life knowing that the man she loved fought monsters almost every night? She wasn't so sure of that. In fact, she was pretty sure she couldn't. She would drive herself crazy worrying about him every night, but what alternative did she have?

She couldn't find an answer to that question other than "none" before Shirou came back to tell her that the water was ready.

The promise of a warm soak was enough to entice her out of the futon as well as from her thoughts.

* * *

"Ahhh, this is nice," Taiga purred while Shirou washed her back. "I could get used to this."

They never bathed together before, not even when Shirou was a child, therefore this was yet another first experience for her.

Since the beginning he was highly self-reliant. He never liked imposing on others and he would sooner relive others of their burdens than burden them with his own. Looking back on it now, it was obvious that he was out of the ordinary already back then.

"I'm glad you like it," he replied. "The water should be hot enough now. Go ahead and step inside."

"Hmm? Aren't you going to join me?" she teased.

"Huh... I wouldn't mind but... I don't think I'd be able to keep my hands off you in that little tub. Sorry."

She looked back, down his body, and saw that he was telling the truth. Even now he was sporting an erection that almost brushed against her butt. She felt supremely satisfied in the knowledge that she could arouse him so. She wasn't really confident about her appearance, particularly not when compared to the bodies of the other women in Shirou's life. However, Shirou never looked upon her naked body with anything short of a primal hunger in his eyes.

It made her feel like Aphrodite incarnated.

To make things worse, her own body yearned to have him inside again, but she knew quite well that she couldn't take any more of it.

Why had she ever considered staying away from him in the first place?

Oh, right. Society and its rules. Nothing truly important in the end.

"Oh, well. That's a pity then," she replied, looking flustered yet clearly pleased. "I guess I'll go ahead first then."

She stood up from the stool she had been sitting upon and sashayed to the bathtub, feeling his burning gaze over her skin the entire time.

Yet another thing she could get used to.

The water was pleasantly warm, and Taiga sunk into it eagerly with a contented sigh.

"This is heaven," she declared. Although she had been through a lot in the previous few days, she was currently at peace. Completely relaxed in body and mind both.

"Make sure not to fall asleep in there, alright?"

"Hmm," she agreed, but she closed her eyes all the same.

In the meantime, Shirou had finished washing himself and was already drying his body.

Noticing this, Taiga asked "Aren't you going to take a bath too?"

"No, sorry. It's getting pretty late and I'd like to get started on dinner. You stay there a little while more, alright?"

"Are you sure? Then I'll just soak in here a bit longer."

"You do that," he agreed as he was about to leave. "Oh, and Fuji-nee?"

"Hmm?" she asked.

"I love you," he told her a moment before closing the door between them. Taiga's face was painted with a charming red color that had nothing to do with the temperature of the water.

"...idiot," she murmured, but there was no hiding the smile that had appeared on her face.

She stayed in the bath longer than she had intended, but she could not stop giggling and squirming like a schoolgirl who just had her feelings returned by her crush.

Perhaps Taiga no longer knew where she stood in this new world that had opened before her, but in that moment, she wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

* * *

Shirou was troubled. Happy, but troubled. He glanced at the [Reputation] screen with his Gamer Eyes. The status of his relationship with Taiga had gone from Strained to Lovers.

He almost couldn't believe it. He was in a relationship with Taiga. He didn't know how much he wanted it - wanted her - until it happened.

She had always been someone special to him, that much he couldn't deny.

She was his one and only Fuji-nee. There were no others to be found anywhere in the world.

Certainly, he loved her as a person before he loved her as a woman, but that didn't change the fact that he did love her.

Was it wrong for them to be together like that when they both wanted it? Shirou wasn't sure of that answer, especially because he already had another lover.

He was a polygamist, he realized with some measure of disbelief. Granted he would have never even entertained the notion of being with more than one woman if Saeko hadn't strong-armed him into it. To make things more complicated, Taiga knew of this and chose to go through with it anyway.

Why would two women, magnificent in their own way, want to be with him so much to the point of breaking the law and sharing him with each other?

He was completely baffled. Happy, but baffled.

Still, despite his reservations, Shirou didn't do things by halves. If being with him made them happy, he would make sure to treat them right and give them no regret whatsoever. It was the least he could do for them.

* * *

"You transferred to another school?" Shirou asked over dinner.

"Yeah... sorry," Taiga said apologetically. "It's already been approved. I can't ask to go back now."

"You don't have to apologize. It's just... it's not going to be the same without you."

"Oh, please," Taiga rolled her eyes. At this point you are just attending because you have to, Mr. Precocious."

"That doesn't mean I'm not going to miss you," he protested.

"We-well, we're still going to see each other for breakfast and dinner most days right?"

Shirou didn't answer. Instead he pondered his options.

"... I suppose there's no other choice then. I'm going to skip a few years."

"Wait, what?" Taiga balked.

"You're the one who told me I could do that, right?"

"Yes, but... I meant a year or two. Not straight to high school. C-can you do it?" she asked hopefully.

Shirou nodded firmly. "It's going to take a while to learn all the material I need to know for the entrance exams, but I don't think I'd be allowed to change school mid-semester anyway."

"Probably not but... would you really go through all the trouble just to be with me?"

"Yes, of course" he confirmed. "We already have to keep our relationship a secret for obvious reasons and with me doing my own things at night there isn't much time left for us to be together. I know that's it sounds ridiculous since I also have someone else, but I don't want us to be a sham, Taiga. I really want to be with you."

As soon as those words left his mouth a shadow was cast on him and he was suddenly tackled to the ground by several pounds of happy Tiger.

"Do you really mean it?" she asked excitedly, eyes sparkling with joy.

"I'm not going to let you go ever again," he promised. "You are my Fuji-nee."

"Yes. Yes, I am," she agreed with a whisper, brushing off an unshed tear that had pooled at the corner of her eye.

The living room was subsequently filled with the sound of kisses being exchanged. Eventually though, Shirou pulled away.

"I should probably get going," he told her.

"To that... Reverse Side?"

"Yeah. It's kind of my job now, and it helps me getting stronger."

"Could I… maybe come with you?" Her question was filled with hope, but Shirou shook his head.

"It's a very dangerous place and they don't let just anyone in, sorry."

Taiga deflated quickly.

"I hate knowing that you're going somewhere I can't follow."

"I understand," he agreed, soothingly brushing her face with his fingers, "but there's really no helping it."

"Can't I even visit? I'd really like to see what it's like," she insisted.

"Even if they allowed me to bring you along it's still dangerous. In the future there could be more people willing to come after me through you. If our closeness is known I'd be painting a huge target on your back."

"I see. The Moonlit World is a really scary place, huh?"

"Yes, it is. Those who aren't equipped to deal with it would to better to stay out of it as much as possible."

"But not everyone is a Magus over there, right?"

"Well no. Some people are practitioners of martial arts specialized to fight the supernatural. Saeko's sword style is one of such techniques," he explained.

"I see. Hmm."

"I know that face. What have you come up with now?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing you should worry about."

"Taiga...," he warned.

"Trust me. I'm not going to do anything dangerous."

"Fine," he sighed. "It's not like you ever listen to anything I said."

"Exactly," she nodded. "I'm glad we're in agreement on this."

Shirou shook his head in resignation, but he was glad that she was back to her usual self.

* * *

A little while later Shirou left for the reverse side and Taiga returned to her own home.

Her mind was spinning with possibilities. Shirou was willing to go through all the trouble of skipping years and changing school just so that he could spend a bit more of his time with her.

Did he really expect she wouldn't want to be the same?

 _People who weren't equipped to deal with the Moonlit World should stay out of it._

Those were Shirou's own words, but that only meant she had to make herself meet the requirements. She already knew who she could ask for help.

Besides, she supposed it was about time she'd confront the other woman in his man's life.

* * *

Matsumoto blinked and checked how much liquor was left in her bottle when Shirou casually walked into Ahnenerbe.

She definitely didn't have enough alcohol in her system to start hallucinating, therefore the person who was approaching her was real and not a product of her imagination.

"Good evening, Matsumoto-san," he greeted. "Thank you again for the help yesterday. I don't know if I would have made it home on my own."

"Huh, hi, Shirou," she replied awkwardly eyeing him up from head to toe. He looked different for yesterday and she didn't mean the fact that he was already all healed up.

He looked... taller, maybe? No, his height relative to the table was about the same.

Somehow, though, he felt like a completely different person.

His gaze looked deeper and his smile more handsome.

The gold of his eyes was magnetic, and Matsumoto would have kept staring into them until she drowned had Shirou not called her attention.

"Matsumoto-san... are you alright?"

"Ah? Oh? Ah, yes. Sorry, I got lost in thought for a moment. So, I see you're already back on your feet. Remarkable."

He nodded. "Yes. Magecraft can be quite useful like that."

"When it doesn't kill you," she pointed out.

"Indeed," Shirou agreed with a chuckle. "Anyway, I'm in your debt for yesterday. If there's any way I could possibly repay you, please let me know."

"Oho? Is this the pride of a Magus talking?" she teased.

Shirou run a hand through his hair, sending Matsumoto a roguish smile, almost as if she had just said a funny joke.

It was a casual gesture, but it gave her a glimpse of the man he would grow to be in a couple of years. Wait, no, two years was too little. How old was he again?

"Matsumoto-san?"

"Oh, sorry. I zoned out again. What were you saying?"

"I just said that is not so much as "the pride of a Magus" but simply the decent thing to do. Don't you agree?"

"Maybe, but it's kill or be killed in the Abyss. You won't see many people doing the decent thing for its own sake around here." She reached out and brushed his face with the back of her hand. "You are quite the anomaly even for people like us."

Handsome and nice... Hm... she could even make an exception and waive the usual fee for a night with her. Whole package. She'd blow his mind.

"Huh... Ma...Matsumoto-san?" he stuttered.

She blinked and noticed what she was doing.

She was stroking his cheek repeatedly, leaning forward in her chair and dangling making her huge breasts right in front his face, clearly visible from the deep neck cut of her dress.

"Oh, dear," she chuckled, sitting up straight and fixing her dress. "Sorry about that. I get distracted easily when I drink too much."

Except she was nowhere near having drunk past her limit. She wasn't starting to get old yet, right? Right?

"It's... It's alright," he replied, still flustered but on the way to a complete recovery. "Anyway, let me know if there's anything you need help with. Just say the word and I'll be there."

"I'll make sure to do that, Shirou," she nodded, then turned to the few other patrons in the cafe. "Hear that, everyone? That's how a real man supposed to be. Learn something while you're at it."

 _"Fuck off, Matsumoto!"_

 _"Yeah, who gives a shit?"_

"See what kind of people I usually have to deal with?" she told Shirou.

"I'm sure they are all good people."

Matsumoto ruffled his hair playfully. "I wish there were more guys like you, Shirou-kun. You should hang around more often. So I wouldn't be stuck here with a bunch of lazy bums all the time."

 _"You're the laziest of us all, bitch!"_

"You have my deepest sympathies," he joked, pretending not to have heard the other patrons. "I should go now. Remember what I said, Matsumoto-san."

"You too, Shirou-kun. I'm always here. Come look for me anytime," she winked, smiling when he blushed before leaving through the door to the Mirror Fuyuki.

Rangiku's eyes immediately turned from playful to serious.

Emiya Shirou was an enigma. An anomaly among anomalies. Magecraft went only so far to explain the things he could do. She had investigated his past.

Emiya Kiritsugu was a Magus, but Shirou was an adopted child, therefore he could not have inherited his father's Crest. Matsumoto was no Magus, but she knew enough about them to understand that even the simplest of their Mysteries were built upon consecutive generations of research.

His biological parents were unknown, though so maybe he could be a hybrid of some sort and he simply used Magecraft as a blanket excuse for the things he could do.

Chances were that he didn't even know why he was such an abnormal existence even to people like them, but if there was one thing that went against Matsumoto Rangiku's nature was leaving alone something that had piqued her curiosity.

She turned to the barman, who had been cleaning glasses all the time without uttering a word.

"Hey, George," she called out. "Have you seen Ryouko, lately?"

If there was someone both capable and willing to find an answer, it was her.

* * *

"There you are," Yoruichi greeted when Shirou walked into her shop. "Back in business already? You should really learn to... huh?"

"What's wrong?"

"You look different, somehow. Did you do something with your hair?" she asked.

"Huh, I don't think so. Maybe it's just that the last time you saw me I was covered in blood?"

Yoruichi shrugged. "Could be. Sorry about that by the way."

Shirou frowned. "What are you apologizing about?"

"Obviously for yesterday mess. The Wei Clan came after you because of me."

"I fail to see how that is something you should apologize for. I involved myself willingly and I'd do it all over again. I only wish I had been strong enough to prevail without killing," he explained.

"Do you regret it even though they were trying to kill you and your sister?"

"I don't feel guilty. I did what I had to do given the circumstances. I just don't like that it came down to deciding who had to die."

Yoruichi grinned, satisfied. "I knew this already, but seeing it is another thing."

"What are you talking about?" he inquired.

"You are a decent guy."

Shirou snorted. "You say that like it's something worthy of praise."

"It is worthy of praise," she objected. "Especially in the Moonlit World. It's easy to be a good person when everything is nice and easy, but not as much when things get ugly. And things are always ugly in here."

Shirou fidgeted, embarrassed.

"I think you're giving people too little credit," he deflected.

"From my hundred-plus years of experience I can safely say that you're the one giving out more credit than it's due. Still, I suppose that is what I like about you."

"Uhmm... thank you."

"Don't let it go to your head," she snorted. "By the way, did you manage to square things up with your sister?"

He nodded meekly.

"Yes, we're cool now. Thanks for staying with her last night."

"You should be thanking her rather than me. That woman can be pretty damn scary when it comes to you. She really cares a for you a whole lot."

"Yeah... I know. Like I said, we're cool now."

"Good. I don't want to go through something like that ever again," she shuddered. "No, I'm not going to tell you what happened so don't even ask."

"Fine," he sighed. "Still, thank you for coming. I appreciate it."

"Good. Because I don't plan to make it a regular thing. Now, either buy something or get the hell out so that I can go back sleep."

"I'll be off then," he laughed as he turned to leave. "Have a good night, Yoruichi-san."

"You too. Careful out there."

After paying his regards to Yoruichi, Shirou stepped out of her shop and into Mirror Fuyuki, past the safe area of the Red-Light District that was the base of operation of Soul Society.

He needed to become stronger by raising his level, his stats and his skills. In the end, the hero he wished to become had to be the strongest of all.

He couldn't let something like the previous night happen again.

* * *

While Shirou moved through the spectral copy of Fuyuki, a figure observed him, perched at the top of the tallest building.

She tilted her head in curiosity, sniffing the air almost as if she could smell him all the way from up there.

Maybe she had found what she had been looking for, someone worthy of her favor, but she had to be sure.

There was no better way to ascertain than looking from up close.

She stepped over the edge and let gravity claim her. Before her body impacted on the ground, some hundred feet below, bat-like wings sprung from her back and she soared through the sky like she owned it.

Her eyes never lost sight of her hopelessly unaware target.

* * *

Exploring Mirror Fuyuki was always an eerie experience, no matter how many times he repeated it. The faded colors, as well as the complete absence of people and artificial sounds was off-putting.

Even in the middle of the night, a city the size Fuyuki is never truly silent.

It wasn't the case of its spiritual replica. The fact that there were beings with malicious intentions hiding in its streets didn't make it any more a place one would want to visit for pleasure.

Shirou was luckier than the average dweller of this place. His [Sense Presence] and [Sense the Unnatural] worked as an early warning system. Nothing would sneak up on him unless it was a being with an ability to conceal its presence higher than his ability to detect it.

That didn't mean he could drop his guard though. Just the previous night he was ambushed by several opponents simply because they weren't trying to hide from him. He needed to be aware of his surroundings at all times.

How could he unlock such a skill? [Sense Presence] triggered because Saeko was trying to sneak up on him. [Sense the Unnatural] because he stepped into a place laden with supernatural influence. They both increased in level when an event similar to those that first triggered happened.

Maybe it just wasn't possible to be aware of everything at the same time. The human mind didn't work like that, Gamer power or not. In fact, it worked the opposite. It excluded everything it acknowledged as familiar to highlight that which wasn't.

In conclusion, he would have to learn a skill to detect each specific thing he was interested in detecting, rather than get a single all-encompassing ability.

Yeah, it was going to be tough. He would have to figure what was worthy of being detected and how to trigger the skill.

Currently, following the abilities he already had, he hunted for slimes. The experience he was getting from them was starting to become not worthy of the time and effort it took to hunt them.

He needed to find stronger enemies and that meant going to less populated areas, where the Common Sense of humanity was less thick. That meant going outside of the city limits, but everyone told him it was tantamount to suicide. There was no buffer zone. Fuyuki was pinned between the sea and the forest leading up to the mountains. It went from densely populated to not populated at all very quickly.

Where could he find a place in Fuyuki were few people gathered, but still close enough to populated areas?

When he found an answer, some minutes later, he palmed his face at the obviousness of the answer.

It was a place he was most familiar with. The place where he had been born. The place where he had been forged.

The Fuyuki Memorial Park.

As he made his way there, he couldn't know that the darkness he would find would be much deeper than he could possibly imagine.

* * *

XXX

* * *

AN: Yes, I know that in Japan it's not possible to skip grades. I have simply decided to disregard this fact for the sake of PLOT!

That said, Shirou is about to get into some serious trouble, as you can very well imagine.

Anyhow, that's it for this month. Don't forget to review. Your comments are always appreciated. Additionally, if you want to support me, you can head over to my pa treon account at "pa treon [dotCOM] / ichaichasennin"

See you next month.


	18. 0018

**[EMIYA SHIROU]  
** **[THE GAMER]  
** **[LV 27- 3500/26000]  
** **[HP: 2700][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 850][SP: 11]  
** **[STR: 42][DEX: 43][INT: 50][WIS: 33][CHR: 102]**

* * *

Shirou stood at the edge of the Fuyuki memorial park looking at the stretch of nature like something out of a picture book.

Unlike its equivalent in the real world, the Mirror Park looked teeming with life. The grass was greener and the trees were in full blossom. Even though it was nighttime the colors were so vivid he could see them clearly.

He stepped past the threshold and he immediately felt the air become heavier, thicker, harder to breath. The concentration of Mana in the atmosphere was much more intense in there than it was just one step outside of it.

He was being rejected by this place, he could feel it in his bones. He was a stranger here, so much more than the rest of the Mirror World. The grass he had stepped upon had lost a bit of its luster, but recovered as soon as he moved a few feet away.

This was the effect that modern humans' Common Sense had on Gaia. It was no wonder then that they were at odds with each other. It was a shame that such a beautiful scenery could be brought forth only by completely scrubbing away human presence from it.

He felt like he was intruding in a hallowed place, a temple of sorts, profaning its sacred halls with his mere steps. He expected that this transgression would be punished swiftly, that whatever being lingered in this place would come for him straight away.

Yet there was nothing. He could feel no presence whatsoever. There was only the rustling of leaves caused by the light spring breeze caressing the trees.

If he didn't know better, he would have never believed this was the site of the infernal scenario from his earliest memories. It felt almost like a sick joke that such a paradise had been born from the pain and death of so many people.

Still, there was nothing he could or should do about it, except keep on advancing further.

There had to be something, anything, in this place. The lack of human visitors during most of the day dictated as much. Yet, no matter how much he advanced he found only more grass and more trees, at least until his keen eyes spotted something on the ground, far in the distance. He couldn't tell what it was from his position, but he came looking for something, so he decided that checking it out was in order.

As he approached, it became bigger. It was like some sort of shadow cast on the ground, as if someone had unfolded a black carpet and rolled in on the grass.

The closer he came to it, the stronger the wind started to get. Stronger and warmer. Much, much warmer. He was starting to have a bad feeling about it.

With slow, measured steps he approached it and once he stood near it he knew that his eyes had deceived him. It was no mere shadow. It was nothing as simple as a black carpet laying on the grass.

It was a hole, several dozen meters wide.

He frantically looked around at distant skyline of Fuyuki for reference. Without a doubt, this was that place.

' _This is where it started,'_ he realized. He was at the epicenter of the fire that had scorched the city. The point of origin of that tragedy.

"What really happened here?" he wondered aloud. Why would something like a fire, no matter how terrible, would leave a hole like this in the Mirror World?

He approached the edge and dared himself to look down. There was nothing but pitch black darkness. He couldn't even tell how deep the hole was, but he had the impression that he wouldn't like to find out.

Regardless, he could see-

"..."

\- nothing in it. Wait, did something just move? He had the impression that the darkness had shifted like a wave. Was it just his imagination? He leaned a little bit forward.

"Hi, what are you doing here?"

" **!"**

The voice right behind him made him nearly jump out of his skin and, more importantly, over the edge. He quickly whirled around, Shisui ready to strike, but his hand stayed itself when he took stock of the person who had unwittingly caught him by surprise.

It was a woman.

A beautiful woman, actually, with hair as white as the snow. She was wearing a black blouse over a white skirt and boots. She was beautiful in the way only a doll could be, with porcelain-like skin and blood red eyes.

 **[Irisviel Von Einzbern]  
[?]**

 **[LV. ?]**

That's what the name over her head said, but Shirou's attention was drawn to a message prompt that flashed before his eyes.

 **[NEW QUEST: ALL THE WORLD'S EVILS (I)]  
[Objective: Survive]  
[Reward for Success: Survive]  
[Reward for Failure: ****Life penalty, body penalty, freedom penalty, fame penalty, fortune penalty. Give the penalty that extends so much punishment, mud, darkness, and malice. "Elimination of human rights by castration, exile, execution, torture and sadism upon the body through digestion. denial by consensus of the colony that eliminates all honor"** **]**

"Uhmm, hello ma'am… I was just exploring this area," he forced himself to say.

"My, that's quite brave of you, coming all the way here," she laughed. It was a melodious sound and one that gave him the shivers. "Don't you know that the farther away you get from civilization the more dangerous it gets?"

"Yes… I have been told that." Shirou would have taken a step back but doing so would have meant falling into that pit full of darkness that he could have sworn were reaching out to him. He moved a little bit to the side.

"Hm?" she tilted her head. A strand of hair slid against her blouse. It was a display of innocence that both fit her and didn't belong with her at the same time. "And yet you came here all the same. What is your name, little one? I'm Irisviel Von Einzbern."

Shirou swallowed, taking another step to the side. Worst case scenario he could dive diagonally and away from both the hole and this woman. "Shirou. My name is Emiya Shirou. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Einzbern-san."

The woman froze in place, eyes widening and gaze growing distant. "E...miya? Kiri?"

"... you knew my father?"

Her eyes regained focus instantly and zeroed on him. "You are his son?"

Shirou nodded cautiously.

"I see… I see. Fu fu fu fu," she laughed like a child who had Christmas come early. Then it must be fate that we met here. Let me introduce myself once more then. I am Irisviel Von Einzbern, Emiya Kiritsugu's one and only wife. I suppose that makes me your mama, doesn't it?"

There was a child-like glee in her voice, but all that Shirou could feel was an overwhelming threat.

"... you're lying." Shirou decided, moving a little bit to the side again and more importantly away from the hole. Something was definitely moving down there.

Irisviel seemed taken aback, but quickly recovered and advanced towards him, her smile getting wider and wider. Definitely wider than he was comfortable with. "Why do you think so, Shirou-kun?"

Well, for starters, because he never heard anything of Kiritsugu having a wife. Secondly...

"Because… because there's no way a slouch like dad could have gotten away with marrying a pretty lady like you!"

This time Irisviel did stop in her tracks for good. The smile on her face receded to something more human and more sincere.

"Oh… you are little flatterer aren't you? I like you, Shirou-kun. Will you be together with me forever? I'll be a good mama to you."

Shirou felt like she really meant it, but he also knew that it was a lie. Regardless, even if it had been for real, his answer would have been the same.

"Sorry, but I made a promise to dad. Besides, I've got people I have to go back to. Thank you for your offer, but I have to pass. May I go now?"

Irisviel smile froze.

" **No."**

The ground shook violently. It was only because of his great dexterity that Shirou didn't fall on his ass. The origin of this tremor, Shirou knew it perfectly well. It was the hole next to him.

Without thinking of a plan he listened to his gut feeling and jumped away from it. A moment later, something like a claw reached for the place where he had been standing, piercing into the ground.

A beast-like creature pulled itself up from the hole. With the exception of its white eyes it was completely black.

 **[Shadow]**

 **[Lv.20]**

Shirou stepped further back, preparing himself for combat, eyeing both the creature and Irisviel, but just as he was about to make up a way to fend off both at the same time another claw emerged from the hole. Then another. And another. And another. And another one.

 **[Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow] [Shadow]**

"Oh… fuck!"

" **Be with me forever, Shirou!"** Irisviel sung happily and her voice was the signal for the shadows to let loose.

They swarmed him like a black tide of hatred and malice.

There was only one thing he could do in front of such a thing. A single available tactic.

He ran for his life.

Putting every little bit of Reinforcement he could into his legs, ignoring the HP loss prompts from the failed attempts, he burst away as fast as he possibly could.

Yet it was not enough. For each meter he gained, they made two. The space between him and them was getting increasingly shorter. He could feel their infernal screeches, like bone on metal, getting closer and closer.

Eventually he knew that he if he just kept running he would simply be killed from behind.

He whirled around, ready to fight for his own life.

The black wave was upon him, all darkness, fangs and claws, but they stopped in their tracks a few meters short of his position. However, they spread to the side and around him, circling him completely and cutting off any possible escape route. Behind them he could see even more Shadows climbing out of the hole. A seemingly endless horde.

The black sea parted, allowing Irisviel safe passage. She approached at a slow pace, hands clasped behind her back and a serene smile on her lips. She came to a stop right in front of him.

"Shirou… Running away like that wasn't very polite, you know? I see Kiri was a bit lacking in his education of you. Don't worry though, I will teach you everything a good boy needs to know. Come along now."

She held out her hand for him to take.

Should he take it? His chances of getting out of there alive with his own ability was somewhere in the negative percentile. Even if a single one of the Shadows had been weak, they could chip away at his health faster than he could kill them.

Maybe going with Irisviel was the best course of action? He had to make a decision.

"Sorry," he eventually said. "A hero isn't supposed to give up."

Irisviel sighed. "My, you are really your father's son, aren't you? That's too bad, but it only means that **I'll have to drag you with me.** "

The shadows lept at him from all sides at the same time and Shirou clutched his blade tighter. He would fight for his life in this place, even if the chances of surviving were next to none.

But just as they were about to tore into him, another black wave came down from up above, circling around him like a protective wall.

"What?... Bats?" he wondered, checking his surroundings.

They were keeping away the Shadows. Not a single one could get through their barrier.

"You…" he heard Irisviel say. "What do you want now? That child is mine."

"..." someone answered, but he didn't recognize the voice, nor what he said.

He cautiously approached the wall off bats in the direction where he last saw Irisviel.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice behind him said.

Shirou's heart nearly tore out his chest again. He turned to face the other person who managed to get the drop on him for the second time that evening, and found himself staring at a young woman, possibly not older than seventeen.

She was wearing a t-shirt with a sleeveless jacket on it and a loose tie. On her lower body she wore knee-long jeans and her look was completed by a cap with a bat-shaped pin.

 **[Lilith Aensland]  
[LV. 35]**

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Lilith. But you already knew that with those eyes of yours. Isn't that right, The Gamer Emiya Shirou?"

"Wha-? How do you know about that? What's going on here?"

"How many questions. I'm a friend for the time being, and I've come to get you out of this mess you put yourself into. Oh, I know what you're thinking. How could you possibly trust a stranger who seems know your deepest secrets? Well, to answer that question, right now Onee-sama and I are the only thing standing between you and that woman's ugly friends. So, unless you changed your mind and decided to go with her we are the only chance you've got of getting out of here with all your limbs attached."

Shirou considered his options and found out that he had none other than trusting this person.

"What about the other person? Your… sister?"

"Oh, she'll be fine, you don't need to worry about her," she waved off. "Neither one of them can really harm the other, after all. They'll just tear at each other until they get bored and then they'll both go back home."

"Are you really sure? If we leave her now…"

"My… you really are like that. Yes, I am sure. Come along now or I'll leave without you."

She turned to leave and the circle of bats moved with her. Shirou couldn't help but follow or he would be left behind and into the sea of Shadows.

They moved at an easy pace, while outside the protective barrier he could hear the Shadows howl and throw themselves against the bats-wall.

Shirou kept his guard up, both against eventual break ins from the Shadows and from the mysterious Lilith. Who was she? What did he want from him and how did he know of his Gamer powers? He never so much as mentioned them to anyone else. Could she read minds? Maybe she had the same Mystic Eyes as him?

They proceeded in silence. Shirou had no clue how far they had gotten until his foot hit the cold, hard asphalt of the streets rather than the grass of the park.

"Here should be safe," Lilith said, turning to face him. Indeed Shirou could no longer hear the Shadows. With the exception of the flapping of bats' wings everything was quiet and that too subsided when Lilith snapped her fingers.

The bats dispersed into the sky, revealing the familiar sight of Mirror Fuyuki.

"Well. It looks like I'm in your debt," Shirou said, letting his sword go back into his Inventory.

Lilith tilted her head. "You are rather fast to trust strangers, all things considered."

"If you wanted to harm me, you could have left me where you found me. Whatever reason you had to get me out of there, I'm in your debt. Thank you," he bowed. "Still, are you sure she won't just chase us?"

"Oh, she can't get out of this park. It's been her dominion for the past ten years, but that's also as far as she can get. I'll be careful though. She's got her eyes on you. It wouldn't surprise me if she sent a few Shadows after you."

"They can come out?" he asked worriedly.

"They can, but they get progressively weaker the farther they go and the longer they stay out."

"Oh, thank goodness. Who was she really anyway? And who are you for that matter"

"You are Magus, Emiya Shirou. You should know better than anyone else that answers come at a price and right now you don't have what we want from you."

"What is that you want from me, then?" he inquired.

"For the time being we're just going to watch you. Onee-sama has some pretty big expectations of you, so she felt it would have been a waste to let you die here. I can't say I disagree with her on that point."

"What kind of expectations?" he asked, dreading the answer.

"Oh... you'll know when the time is right. It's been a pleasure meeting you, Emiya Shirou,but I've got to go now."

"Wait a second! At least tell me-"

He was cut off by a bat, swooping down in front of his face. When his vision cleared Lilith was gone and he was left alone at the edge of the park.

Shirou checked his surroundings but there wasn't anyone to be seen but he still felt watched. Whether he was right or just paranoid, he had no way of finding out, but considering what he had just been told, he was inclined towards the former.

With a sigh, he left the area of the park as fast as he could. He didn't want to put Lilith's words about Irisviel's range to the test.

He had a whole lot of questions going through his head and he had no clue where to start looking for answers. One thing he was certain about though. He would not be taking another step in that park ever again if he could help it.

 **[QUEST: All the World's Evils (I) Completed]  
** **[Reward: You survived]**

* * *

Irisviel stood at the edge of the park, lazily petting a Shadow while she watched Shirou disappear past a building.

If it hadn't been for that interloper she would have had him right where she wanted him.

He had gotten away this time, but it didn't matter in the end. Just a few more months and everything would be ready. When the time was right, he would bear her mark and he would come looking for her just like everybody else.

Such was the allure of the Holy Grail.

On that day he wouldn't be getting away a second time.

* * *

"Keep watching over him," the woman said from atop of the building.

"Are you sure he's the one, Onee-sama?" Lilith asked next to her.

"Only time will tell," she replied. "Time and the trials we will put him through."

"What if he breaks, though?" she asked.

"Then he will be broken," she stated ominously.

Lilith winced. She thought that Shirou was a very likable fellow, but her Onee-sama came first. She could only hope that he could survive what they would throw at him.

* * *

"Holy what now?" Shirou asked once he safely made his way back to Soul Society.

"Grail War," Yoruichi repeated. "It's a conflict fought every sixty years in this city, here in the Reverse Side. Magi chosen by the Grail get to summon Heroic Spirits from the past to fight for the right to make a wish. The last time it happened, five years ago, it caused the fire that burned all the way to the surface. I don't know any more details than that. I wasn't even in Japan at the time. The only thing I know is that ever since then no one who ventured into the park ever came back."

"Yeah, no kidding," he sighed running a hand through his hair

"Weren't you told not to venture into non-urbanized areas?"

"It's in the middle of the damn city," he protested.

"It doesn't matter. That park in the real world sees even less visitors than some remote places up in the mountains. What made you think it was a good idea? Do I have to draw you a map of all the places you aren't supposed to go or something? If you want to fight something stronger than slimes, try the docks. Something tough crawls out of the water fairly often, just make sure not to be dragged or pushed into it the ocean or you'll be done for."

"What about that woman? Irisviel? The things she said…"

"How would I know? If your father was ever married he must have kept it secret. Can't really blame him if he did. The Magus Killer didn't get as far as he got by letting everyone and their sisters know what he was up to in his spare time. Besides, that woman could have been a wraith or just some other spirit trying to mess with you."

"No… I don't think she was lying. I'm not sure exactly what she was… but she was not lying."

"You should be more worried about that Lilith gal and her sister in my opinion," Yoruichi continued. "Who knows what they want from you."

"Have you ever heard of them?" he asked.

"Nope," she shook her head, "but as you know there are other points were the real world and the Reverse Side meet. Heck, with enough power one could theoretically just tear a hole and go right through from one to the other. Besides, our job is keeping things in, not keeping people out."

"Well, there goes that route," he sighed. "I suppose I can only wait and see, huh?"

"Keep your guard up but don't be too bothered by it. Everyone down here's got someone after them at one point or another. In the Moonlit World if you haven't got any enemies, you aren't trying hard enough."

"Splendid," he replied sarcastically. "Just what I needed."

"If you wanted a quiet life, you should have stayed at home, playing Magus in your shed."

Shirou tossed her a mild glare. "Do you have any other wise suggestions or should I just see myself out?"

Yoruichi cackled. "I almost forgot you could be such a sourpuss, brat. Look, if you want more answers than I've got, you should ask another Magus. In particular, if you want information about the Grail Wars, you should try asking the local Second Owner."

"And who would that be?" he asked. Finally a lead he could follow.

"You don't even know that much? Don't get me wrong, but your father completely screwed up your education as a Magus."

"Yes, I already knew that. Actually, he didn't want to teach me Magecraft in the first place. He only did because I pestered him until he gave up."

"Oh, so you were a stubborn little bugger from the ground up, huh?"

"Yes. That's me. Now could you give me that name, please?"

"Ehh…. It should be a girl from the Tohsaka family. I knew her father, but I can't remember his daughters' names and I don't know which sister inherited in the end."

"That's more than enough. I can look it up myself. Thank you."

"I shouldn't be saying things, but Magi don't really like each other. If you decide to approach this person you should be extremely careful."

"I know, I know. I'm not just going up to her place and ring her doorbell."

"Knowing you, I'll believe it when I'll see it," Yoruichi replied unconvinced. "Anyway, good luck. Let me know if you find something interesting you might want to share."

"Will do. By the way should I report about the park to everyone else?"

"Naah," Yoruichi shook her head. "Everyone except you is smart enough to keep their necks out of it regardless. Besides, it seems to me that everything interesting you found out is rather personal. I wouldn't go around spreading information that could be used against me if I were you. You have raised enough eyebrows already. Don't think that people here haven't got their eyes on you just because they seem to dismiss you."

"... you just asked me to come tell you whatever I'm going to find out."

"Aww, but I'm not just anyone to you, am I?"Yoruichi purred seductively, leaning over the counter. "You wouldn't leave your good friend Yoruichi in the dark, will you?"

Shirou pretended not to be affected by the way her breast pressed against the counter, but he was fairly sure that his blush betrayed him. Damn hormones.

"We… we'll see about that," he stuttered. "I'm going now."

"I'll see you at home later," she sing-sang after him, breaking down in laughter only after he had closed the door behind him.

It looked like she wouldn't get bored of teasing him anytime soon.

* * *

He ended up returning home earlier than usual without having obtained anything other than a number of questions he had scant few clues on how to answer.

The fire from five years before was caused by this Holy Grail War, a conflict in which Magi summoned Heroic Spirits to fight for possession of this allegedly all-powerful artifact.

Kiritsugu was a Magus and he found Shirou in the fire. The likelihood that his father had nothing to do with the Grail War was not even worth considering at this point.

And then there was Irisviel, who claimed to be Kiritsugu's wife. He told her she was lying, because he didn't think it possible that Kiritsugu wouldn't mention to him about something like being married. However, he did sometime leave for extended business trips.

If he hadn't told him about the Grail War and the Magus Killer business, who knew what else he could have kept to himself.

Once he arrived home he went straight for the Kiritsugu's room. He hadn't gone in there ever since the funeral and even before that he didn't go in much at all.

He threw open the closet and started rummaging through his stuff. He knew that Kiritsugu had female clothes in his room. Shirou had even lent a dress to Saeko last time she had been there, but he never thought much about it.

Now, after meeting Irisviel, he had a whole new explanation.

He unceremoniously emptied the closets and sure enough he found clothes upon clothes of Irisviel's presumed size. Chief among them was a black blouse, a white skirt and white boots of the same making as those worn by the Irisviel in the Mirror Fuyuki.

No, not of the same making. They were exactly the same clothes down to the tiniest detail.

Was it true then? Was Irisviel really Kiritsugu's wife? Then what was their role in the Grail War? What happened to them? Why was Irisviel stuck down there, confined to the park with those creatures? Why did they obey her?

Shirou felt the need to find answers to these questions. He had sworn to himself he would not let a tragedy like that happen ever again and even if the next Grail War was still fifty-five years away he needed to know what he was dealing with in preparation for it.

Starting tomorrow, his primary goal would be digging information about Kiritsugu's past and his involvement in the Holy Grail War.

Little did he know that the tragedy was already looming upon the city once again.

* * *

XXX

* * *

AN: Yep. Shit is about to start hitting the fan for poor old Shirou. Now that he's finally touched a thread of his father's past, there's not pulling back. Stay tuned for more.


	19. 0019

**[EMIYA SHIROU]**

 **[THE GAMER]**

 **[LV 27- 3500/26000]**

 **[HP: 2700][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 850][SP: 11]**

 **[STR: 42][DEX: 43][INT: 50][WIS: 33][CHR: 102]**

* * *

Among the list of things Shirou didn't like doing, going back on his words ranked pretty high.

Sadly, he didn't have many options in that regard, because he was quite frankly stumped. The Moonlit World did a fairly good job at hiding itself to the point that an isolated Magus had a hard time finding another one if they didn't already know where to look.

Kiritsugu had been reluctant to teach him Magecraft, much less getting him in touch with other practitioners of the craft.

In hindsight it was for the best. Magi were the resentful sort. Some of them would not hesitate to revisit the grudges they had accrued with the father upon the son.

Needless to say, Kiritsugu had accrued a whole lot of grudges.

Therefore, Shirou had no other option but to get in touch with the local Second Owner if he wanted to learn anything about the Holy Grail War and the tragedy that struck the city five years before.

At the very least he would not just randomly walk to the Tohsaka estate and ring the doorbell, like he had promised Yoruichi he wouldn't do. Rather, he would stake the place and watch the coming and going of its inhabitants.

It was easier said than done though. A kid randomly waiting on the streets was bound to draw attention very quickly and Shirou was even more conspicuous. People knew he was present simply by being in his general vicinity. His recent burst in charisma meant that he couldn't hope to hide even if he tried his hardest. Additionally, Magi were trained into being more aware than the average human.

Fortunately, Shirou had an advantage over other Magi. Japan was the Mecca of electronic gadgetry and he wasn't a technophobe like the rest of them. With the money he made from selling Mana Cores he could easily afford a high-quality drone.

After fiddling with it for a while, he was confident he could control it seamlessly. Moreover, he extended the range from which he could control it and the duration of the battery using Reinforcement on it.

To any other Magus save Kiritsugu it would be a heresy of highest order, but Shirou didn't care about such things. He landed the drone over the roof of a house next to the Tohsaka estate before dawn, with its high definition camera pointed towards the gate. Even if it was somehow discovered there was no way to trace it back to him.

With this method he could set up keep watching over the Tohsaka estate almost 24/7 without risk of being found out.

In a few days he would decide how to approach the mysterious Second Owner.

* * *

Tohsaka Rin was everything you could expect from a first rate Magus. Confident and aloof, never breaking the façade of being in control and aware of everything going on around her.

To her credit, she did notice the strange kid checking her out on different occasions. She first saw him staring at her at a café in the shopping district during one of the few outings with Ayako she allowed herself to have.

She didn't think much of it back then, other that he had mesmerizing eyes of an unusual golden color. She was sure he would be quite the lady killer once he grew up.

She came across him again at the grocery store a few days later when she was shopping for food. It was a bit odd running into him on the other side of town, but it was nothing to worry about. She had probably run into the same strangers more than twice in the past without noticing it, as they weren't as weirdly eye-catching as the red-haired kid.

However, she knew for certain that something was up when she saw him from her classroom window one afternoon. He was standing outside of the school gate. She got confirmation that he was waiting for her when she left the premises later that day.

She headed home and the boy followed her, keeping at the same distance no matter how fast or slow she walked. She could feel his gaze on her back all the way. If he wasn't so young, she would have thought him a pervert.

She didn't feel threatened yet, but she prepared herself mentally for anything. In the Moonlit World, discounting someone as a threat just because they looked young was a sure way to get herself killed.

She proceeded without acknowledging her stalker until they arrived in front of her house. Then and only then she turned around to face him.

"Is there something I can help you with?" she asked confrontationally.

"As a matter of fact, there is, Tohsaka-san." he replied without appearing troubled in the least. "My name is Emiya Shirou and I would like to speak with you in your capacity as Fuyuki's Second Owner."

Rin's eyes widened almost imperceptibly. It was the only outward sign that she was surprised in any way.

"It would be better if we spoke inside then." she agreed, unlocking the gate.

* * *

Shirou was quite removed from the Magi community but at the very least he knew a thing or two about their etiquette and rules. Tohsaka Rin had invited him inside her home after he called her Second Owner, from here onward he was under her protection and she wouldn't harm him unless he threatened her first.

In this place she had little to fear to begin with. If someone wanted to harm her, a Magus, they would not do so on her territory where she was at her strongest. They both knew this, so even though they were both wary no one expected any violence to occur.

He had observed her behavior for quite a few days using his drone. Tohsaka Rin was for all intents and purposes a decent person although somewhat separated from most of her peers.

She was hailed as her school's idol and not without cause. She excelled in both academic and physical subjects, and could boast a beauty to match.

However, she was far from being openly vain. She didn't seem to acknowledge her status at all and although detached she seemed to treat everyone courteously.

Now, that didn't really guarantee anything at all but Shirou recalled Kiritsugu saying that Magi looked down upon ordinary people and therefore Shirou decided that a Magus that did not exhibit this trait was better than the rest.

Hopefully.

She led him inside her house, a lavish western style mansion that reflected her status as the highest-ranking official from the Clock Tower. She offered him a seat in her living room and brought tea for two.

"So… what is this about, Emiya-san?" she asked after pouring him a cup.

"To begin with, I would like to ask for permission to set up a Workshop in your territory."

"A Magus, then," she acknowledged. "I assume you are the current head of your family."

"Technically, I'm a first generation," he explained. "The man who taught me Magecraft was not my biological father, therefore I did not inherit his crest."

"I see. Did you move to Fuyuki only recently?"

"I've lived in Fuyuki my entire life," he admitted. "To elaborate, my father didn't really want to teach me Magecraft, he had no other living heir and he was about to die from a severe affliction that I suspect was of mystical nature. As result, he never bothered to put me in contact with other Magi or even told me who the local Second Owner was. I sought you out as soon as I found out it was you."

"Hm," she acquiesced, somewhat mollified by his admission of ignorance. "And how did you find out, exactly?"

Shirou reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out an object that he put on the table facing her. It was his Soul Society badge.

This time, the widening of her eyes was far from imperceptible.

"This…"

"I got accidentally mixed up with someone from _down below_. One thing led to another and I joined their organization. From there finding out that you were the Second Owner was just a matter of asking for directions."

"I see." she replied, picking up the badge and examining it while warily stealing glances at him.

Magi were all inherently dangerous individuals because they could subvert the laws of nature in strange and unexpected ways. As a child and as a first generation Magus, Shirou was perhaps the exception to that paradigm. However any and every member of Soul Society was someone who had proven they could _fight_.

With that sobering thought, Tohsaka was forced to reassess the level of threat that Shirou posed.

"I don't have any problem to allow you to set up your own Workshop in my territory," she explained, putting down the badge. "However, there is the matter of rent to be addressed. Retroactively at that."

"Ah, I thought you would say something like that. What's your price?"

"How long ago did your father pass away?" she asked.

"About four months ago." he replied.

"Hmm… Considering you have not inherited your father's Crest I won't have you inherit his debt either. I shall consider only these past four months as overdue."

"I'm grateful, but you still haven't named your price."

"I think….," she pondered, making a few mental calculations. "Yes, a hundred thousand yen per month will do."

Not too long ago, Shirou would have balked at that sum. Now he could earn that amount in a single night.

"Alright, that works for me," he reached into his backpack and pulled out a wooden box which he put onto the table and opened towards her. Inside it there were twelve Mana Cores. This time, Tohsaka's eyes bulged. "The exchange rate for these is around a hundred thousand yen each in Soul Society, but I think a Magus like yourself would fetch a higher price for them than that. However if you agree to be paid with these, I don't mind settling for that amount."

She could, in fact, sell them to the Clock Tower for fifty percent more than that.

"That's… that's fine by me, yes," she downplayed. "There is twelve of them here, though."

"Let's consider them down payment for the next few months then." he offered.

"I have no problems with that." she agreed quickly. A moment later the box had disappeared faster than Shirou could follow, making him think momentarily believe she had used Magecraft to stop time. He could almost hear the distant echo of a cash register ringing in the distance, but it was only his imagination. ... it had to be.

"A pleasure doing business with you." was what he replied.

 _'Human greed is scary,_ ' was what he kept to himself.

"Likewise," she nodded with more dignity she had any right to. "Is there anything else you wished to discuss?"

"Yes actually, there is. If possible, I would like to buy information from you."

"What kind of information?" she asked, expression hardening. Information, also known as knowledge, was the most valued currency among Magi. More precious than gold and at times more precious than human life itself.

"The Holy Grail War kind of information," he told her bluntly. "I understand that you are the person who would know more about it."

Her expression hardened even further. "I do know quite a bit about it, yes. Why do you want to know? Care to participate in it?"

"Not in the least." he told her with such certainty in his voice that she didn't even think he was lying.

"Why then?"

"My biological family perished in the fire resulting from the last one," he explained. "I don't remember them, but at the very least I would like to know as much as possible about the incident."

"I see... You have my sympathies," she told him honestly. She could understand how he felt. After all, she too had lost her father to the war, while her mother was catatonic in a clinic out of town. "Still, this is Magecraft we're talking about."

"I know. I don't need specific knowledge about workings of the ritual. I just need to know about its history and the general rules."

"That much I can do. However, information comes at a price."

No sooner than she had said those words that another wooden box came out of Shirou's backpack.

"Money is not an issue." he told her.

Tohsaka smiled. It took all of her willpower to refrain from rubbing her hands together greedily.

"Emiya-san... I believe that this is the beginning of a wonderful business partnership."

Somewhere in the distance, a cash register rang happily.

* * *

Like every morning, Saeko was already awake long before dawn. Apart from the night of the full moon, taking care of the restless spirits took very little time and she would be in bed quite early.

She usually went through her self-training and meditation before having a light breakfast. She then left for school in time to catch the first bus headed towards the city. It took almost an hour to get her there, so she arrived just in time for homeroom.

Unlike every morning, though, she was absolutely shocked when the new teacher walked inside the classroom.

"Hello everyone," she greeted. "I'm Fujimura Taiga, your new homeroom teacher! Let's get along nicely."

The new teacher might have meant that for everyone else, but when her eyes fell on Saeko, the swordswoman knew that it meant the opposite to her.

It looked like her school life had gotten very interesting all of a sudden.

* * *

The day passed without any incident worth mentioning. Despite the veiled threat she received in the morning, she caught no glimpse of Taiga for the rest of the day.

However, on her way out of school at the end of classes, Saeko found a letter inside her shoe locker. It wouldn't be the first time she found a missive in there and they were usually love letters or challenges.

 _'Come behind the school building after classes,'_ it read. It took little effort to figure who it came from and what she wanted.

As a samurai, Saeko had been taught that retreating was sometimes necessary, but running away was never forgivable.

She could avoid this confrontation today, but it would be waiting for her tomorrow and the next day and the one after that. Perpetually avoiding the consequences of her own actions... what else could it be called other than running?

No, her pride would not allow her to disregard this summon, regardless of what would happen.

Besides, Shirou had said Taiga would do nothing to oppose their relationship. At the very least she would not go to the authorities and have Saeko arrested, mostly because they shared a similar attraction to the same redhead.

Therefore she put on her outside shoes and marched towards her the meeting place with her head held high.

Fujimura Taiga was already there, of course. She was leaning with her back leaning against the wall and she had her arms crossed over her chest.

She stood up straight and let her arms fell to her sides as soon as she noticed Saeko turn around the corner.

"Fujimura-sensei." Saeko greeted.

"Busujima-san." the other replied.

"You wanted to see me?" Saeko asked rhetorically.

"There should be no need for me to explain what this is about," the other declared.

"Indeed, there isn't," Saeko agreed. "The only question is what do you intend to do about it?"

"The way I see it, you took something that belongs to me." Taiga explained.

"I strongly object to that interpretation." Saeko replied.

"Objection denied," Fujimura shot back. "You took something of mine and now you owe me. You will pay me back."

Saeko blinked.

"Even supposing I would be willing to repay you, how would I go about doing that?"

"The Busujima style," Taiga replied. "Teach it to me."

Saeko was taken aback. Asking for such a thing… it meant that she knew about the Moonlit World. Did Shirou decide to accept her feelings after all?

"If you ask for that, then you must be aware of what it means to be a practitioner of my style. Why would you want to come into our world?"

"Because I have no intention of being left behind by _him_. Or by you for that matter."

"So you accept that he and I are-"

"I accept nothing!" she stomped her foot. "I won't lose to you or anyone else. That's what I'm saying."

"Fuhuhu... I see," Saeko smiled. "If I accept to teach you, sensei, there will be conditions."

"Let's hear them."

"For starters, you will have to go through my test just like Shirou did. However, I will teach you regardless of the outcome."

"Then what's the point of it?" Taiga asked.

"Well, if you do pass the test I will acknowledge your claim over him and defer to you in all matters regarding our relationship." Saeko explained as she slowly approached the other woman, until she was standing right in front of her, chests almost touching.

"And if I don't?"

"If you don't," she licked her lips, "you'll have to be my plaything for the rest of your life."

"Are you a pervert?" Taiga hissed, face turning an intense shade of red.

"Aren't we both?" she asked rhetorically. "Of course, you don't have to accept my terms. Feel free to leave things as they are and watch us from the sidelines."

"Kh! Fine! I accept your terms. It's not like I'm going to lose anyway." Taiga huffed.

Saeko smiled. It was the look of someone who salivating over a juicy meal. It was the smile of a wolf stumbling upon a wounded sheep isolated from the rest of the herd. A slab of meat free for the taking.

"Very well, then. You know where I live, don't you? Come over to my place before dawn."

"I'll be there." she promised.

"Oh, I don't doubt you'll come, sensei. What I'm looking forward to find out is in what state you'll be leaving. If you'll leave at all, that is."

With those parting words, Saeko turned around marched away with a smile on her lips. As expected, having met Shirou was truly a blessing. She couldn't wait to see how many more prospective victims he would unknowingly send her way.

He would probably be put off a little that she broke his sister, but he knew what he was getting into when he saved her. He too would have to deal with the consequences of his own actions in the end.

Even then, she'd make it worth his while.

* * *

That evening Shirou returned home 2.4 million yen poorer, but with a greater understanding of what the Grail War actually was.

Every sixty years, Magi would gather in Fuyuki, or rather in the Mirror Side of it. Fourteen of them would be chosen by the pseudo-intelligence of the Grail to act as Masters, plus one more to act as arbiter. They would all be granted a set of Command Seals and the right to summon a Heroic Spirit to fight for them. Their objective would be to obtain thirteen Mana Clusters (Mana Cores millions of times more powerful than an ordinary one) to fully power the Grail.

These Clusters could be obtained either by killing another Master's Servant or by delving deeper into the Reverse Side, where True Phantasmal Beasts dwelled. These entities would have Mana Clusters in place of Mana Cores, but they would be proportionally more powerful.

Additionally, a Master could sacrifice the Mana Clusters they already acquired to summon additional Servants, or to increasing the power of an existing one. Of course, any Master would have to be able to provide Mana for all the Servants they summoned, therefore summoning more than one was a double edged sword.

Details aside, it was a bloody affair that Shirou didn't like in the least.

However, it would normally be limited to those who willingly took part in it, but the last time it went spectacularly awry. So awry, in fact, that even the real world felt it.

Tohsaka didn't know what happened exactly. Her own father, one of the contestants, also perished in the conflict so there was no living eye-witness that she knew about. Kiritsugu had taken that knowledge to his grave along with his countless sins.

The other important thing that he was told was that the Einzbern where one of the three families along with the Tohsaka and the Makiri (nowadays Matou) that contributed to the creation of the Grail System. Other than that, she didn't know much that she could share with him. There was never an official record of the Masters that participated in the Wars so there was no way to know who had survived the last one.

However, if Irisviel was to be believed, then Kiritsugu had been a Master on the Einzbern side. Tohsaka had agreed to get in touch with the Clock Tower to get as much information she could find both on Kiritsugu and the Einzbern on his behalf.

Heeding Yoruichi's advice, Shirou didn't share his encounter with the white haired woman with the Second Owner, both to keep his secrets secret and because he would rather prefer that Tohsaka's investigation would corroborate or deny Irisviel's claims independently.

He couldn't say that he was completely satisfied with the knowledge he had acquired, but for the time being he could be patient and hope that Tohsaka would find out more.

On that subject, he would have to farm more Mana Cores. Tohsaka's services could not be called cheap even by a millionaire.

Fortunately he had amassed quite the fortune since he had started farming in the Reverse Side. However, his moderate wealth wouldn't last long at this rate.

* * *

Rin watched her guest walk down the street from a window on the upper floor of her house.

That had been an interesting meeting, to say the least, and a profitable one as well.

The adoptive child of a Master from the previous war.

There was the possibility that it had been Emiya Kiritsugu who had killed her father, but Rin wouldn't begrudge his son even if that would one day turn out to be the case. There would be no point in doing something so foolish.

Both their fathers had willingly entered a deadly competition, so bearing a grudge over it would be the farthest thing from the Tohsaka's sense of elegance she was sworn to uphold.

Still, she had lied by omission. She didn't tell him that the next Grail War wouldn't be in fifty-five years, but rather in a little over twelve months.

There was a chance that he would be selected as a Master and if that happened she would rather have the drop on him. She had no wish to kill someone so young (or anyone else for that matter), but if he refused to opt out of the fight she would treat him as any other enemy. That is to say, without mercy. To be a Magus is to walk with death, after all.

She had a duty to her ancestors to win the Grail. There would be no discounts on that front, regardless of age.

Shirou returned home in time to get started on dinner, but when he arrived he found a message from Taiga telling him that she had other things to do and she wouldn't be dropping by. Shirou didn't think much of it. Teaching at a high school was certainly more difficult and time consuming than teaching at a primary school.

Oh, well. He could still cook for himself and grind his Cooking skill while he was at it. He got it all the way to level 70. Maybe he'd get some bonus ability at level 100?

No other way to find out other than getting there.

* * *

Taiga rode her scooter out of the city and towards the mountains with an helmet on the head and a long satchel on her back.

The determined look on her face made a great job at hiding the apprehension she was feeling.

She was not worried about losing, per se. Her concern was over her own ability to keep up with Shirou.

He was strong. Inhumanly so and he was still growing. Taiga couldn't do Magecraft and even assuming that she could learn the Busujima style there was no guarantee that that alone would allow her to stand by Shirou' side indefinitely.

Indeed, the upcoming confrontation was only the first step on her parth. Busujima, no, Saeko had another thing coming if she thought Taiga would lose right at the starting line.

They didn't call her the Tiger of Fuyuki for nothing. She would live up to that monicker and rip apart anyone who stood in her path. For herself and Shirou both.

On her back, Tora-Shinai fed on its wielder fierce determination and let out a murderous black aura.

Stakes notwithstanding, the confrontation of the two contestants would not be a simple spar.

That much was certain to both of them.

After a long time riding, Taiga pulled over where the mountain path leading to Saeko's place met the asphalt. Once the echo of the engine died a few moments after she turned it off, Taiga was left in an eerie silence.

Traffic on that mountain road was sparse even during rush hours. At this time of the day, she couldn't hear the faintest noise of human origins. Although the city was visible, the sea of trees between here and there absorbed all of the sounds.

Of course Saeko didn't come to meet her on the path.

 _'The little bitch wants to make it more difficult for me,'_ Taiga growled inwardly. _'Well, something like this isn't going to make me hesitate at all.'_

Tightening the strap that held Torashinai against her back, Taiga stepped into the forest and disappeared from sight.

She would not be see coming out of it for the rest of the day.

* * *

AN: Alright. I've returned from a trip abroad and I've resumed writing on the regular. Not much to say about this chapter, so I'll just make a quick apology for the long wait.

Have fun guys, and if you want to read more of my stuff make sure to check my Pa treon at "pa treon [dotCOM] / ichaichasennin"

See ya.


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